%%%% Zero Context Example entries are NOT allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.%%This page lists the characters of ''Manga/ElfenLied'' and their associated tropes.

!!'''General tropes'''* AdaptationDyeJob: Somewhat. In the manga her hair is bright pink, but the anime has it as a notably darker shade of pink. Also, in the manga her eyes are [[GreenEyes green]] instead of red.* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Lucy/Nyu's nipples are placed very inconsistently; they're always somewhere on her breast, but "where" depends on the artist.* BettyAndVeronica: Veronica (darker and more "masculine") to Yuka's Betty (lighter and more "feminine").* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The redhead (sort of) to Mariko's blonde and Nana's brunette/purple in the manga.* CuteMonsterGirl: Her horns look like cute cat ears. [[TearJerker Tragically]] [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]].* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Though it was left up in the air.]]* FriendToAllLivingThings: Diclonii are naturally friendlier with animals.* GodivaHair: Her hair is sometimes depicted this way.* GoodAngelBadAngel: Near the end of the manga, [[spoiler:it's revealed that "[[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Lucy]]" (real name "[[NoLastNameGiven Kaede]]") isn't the Hyde to Nyu's Jekyll. In fact both of them are alternative personalities of the original Kaede, who was a relatively normal girl until she snapped under the constant abuse and death of her dog, where she began to follow the advice of her [[EnemyWithin DNA personality]], who only cared about [[OmnicidalManiac exterminating humanity]].]]* GoodEyesEvilEyes: Just contrast the innocent Nyu persona's wide, bubbly eyes with the narrow, hateful, tortured eyes of the Lucy persona.* HornedHumanoid: And her horns look like UnusualEars. In the manga, they become larger during a [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands convenient power-up]] that allowed her to [[spoiler:take down a helicopter and smash it onto Nousou and the Mariko clones.]]* ICannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler: Toward the end of the manga, the Lucy/Kaede and Nyu personalities beg Kouta to kill her now that her homicidal Diclonius instincts personality has finally taken over, and she must depart their ruined body, leaving the DNA voice in control, not to mention agony.]]* ImportantHaircut: Lucy/Nyu chops off her hair in order to impersonate Kouta's younger sister Kanae, which [[spoiler:signifies Lucy's guilt over murdering her]]. Coincidentally, it also makes her resemble her younger self.* InterspeciesRomance: She is a Diclonius and Kouta is a human.%%* TheMcCoy: To Kouta's [[TheKirk Kirk]] and Yuka's [[TheSpock Spock]].* MonsterRoommate: A mass murdering superhuman with horns and invisible telekinetic CombatTentacles ends up crashing at a random family inn owned by Kouta and Yuka, although they aren't made aware of it at first.* MsFanservice: Just about every other scene has her showing off her fairly toned figure. Ahem, not that we mind.* NakedFirstImpression: Kouta and Yuka find Nyu naked on a beach. This is averted for Kouta, however, as he first met Lucy when they were younger. * NakedOnArrival: She's completely naked save for a helmet as the series opens.* PowerMakesYourHairGrow: Manga only. After the TimeSkip, Nyu has shoulder-length hair. The first time Lucy awakens after the TimeSkip, her hair grows and reaches her back. It stays at this length for the rest of the series.* RapunzelHair: Her hair reaches her hips until her ImportantHaircut.* SplitPersonality: One has the mental capacities of a small child, the other's an insanely powerful killer out to take out a significant portion of humanity. The switch between Lucy and Nyu and back is triggered by either a nasty injury (usually a blow to the head) or a very traumatic memory. She even holds the current page image. [[spoiler:There's even a third personality that acts as a personification of her basic, murderous instincts, which was named The Voice by Lucy.]]* SplitPersonalityTakeover: The shift between Lucy and Nyu; Lucy knows when Nyu has been in control, but doesn't try to stop it from happening.* StarCrossedLovers: She and Kouta have... ''so many fucking issues'' between them that it's a miracle they still love each other at all.* TragicDream: Her love for Kouta extended to [[spoiler:wanting to marry him, which Kouta only finds out towards the end of the final chapter years after her death in the letter she left for him.]]* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Her hair is pink, like all Diclonius in the anime.

!!Lucy [[quoteright:264:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elfen_lied___lucy_by_d_jien_5870.jpg]]The main character of the series. Lucy has 4 vectors in the anime and around 12-15 (though one panel near the end shows her with 28) in the manga with a limited range of two meters. However, she demonstrates prodigious control over her vectors and can be swift and lethal within that range in addition to being able to use nearby objects as high velocity projectiles to kill at greater distances. She is also capable of stopping or deflecting most standard ammunition. Her great skill, murderous intent [[spoiler: and ability to reproduce]] have caused her to be regarded as the most dangerous of the Diclonius.

Lucy hates humans mainly because of how she was treated by her human peers as a child. Consequently, she discounts non-Diclonii, claiming they are not real people, to the point of stating that she has "not killed anyone yet". She seems to lack empathy, kills without much concern, and acts sadistically. Despite this lack of concern for human life she will not harm Kouta, as he was her only childhood friend.----!!!Tropes associated with Lucy:* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Lucy's [[SlasherSmile sad]][[EvilLaugh ism]] is largely removed in the anime, likely to play up sympathy.* AdaptationalBadass: Played with. While certainly powerful and competent, Lucy in the manga is as likely to kick ass as she is to get her own ass kicked and usually relies on [[CombatPragmatist clever tricks or diversions]] to get the upper hand. Her anime counterpart however seems to bulldoze through everyone casually without the slightest bit of effort, only meeting her match with Mariko. The difference is that most of her anime counterpart foes end up being a lot weaker or less competent than their manga counterparts and the fact that even before her [[spoiler: vectors get longer]], Manga Lucy has shown more vectors and a much more vicious and merciless nature.* AlasPoorVillain: Yes, she's a bitter, mass murdering bulldozer, but she went through some serious shit in her life that she'd done nothing to deserve. * AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Lucy was relentlessly bullied by the other children at the orphanage due to her [[EmotionlessGirl emotionless]] demeanor and her horns. She later [[spoiler:snaps and slaughters them all after they take the puppy she'd been caring for and beat it to death right in front of her]]. Later, thinking she has been betrayed by Kouta, she goes on a massive slaughter rampage.* AloofBigSister: [[spoiler:She kills her half-brother along with his father, Director Kakuzawa. It's a MercyKill, since her brother was born specially for ''impregnating'' her and he's controlled by Director Kakuzawa. She does express remorse over killing him.]]* AndYourLittleDogToo: {{Inverted|Trope}}, Lucy does it to the antagonist and [[spoiler:Kouta]].** Played with early on when Lucy comes across Mayu's little dog, Wanta. She looks down at the dog, which is barking frantically at her but unable to run away because it's tied to a leash, and we're treated to what seems like a GoryDiscretionShot as we hear Lucy use her powers. When Mayu comes outside, the audience's expectations are subverted when it's revealed that Lucy actually [[PetTheDog cut the dog's leash]]. It's our first hint that Lucy's not as bad as she seems.* TheAntichrist: A near-literal example [[BiblicalMotifs because of her horns and her name being the female version of Lucifer, a demon]].* AntiHero: Part of her CharacterDevelopment involves graduating her into one, both in the anime and manga. Says a lot about Manga/ElfenLied that being an AntiHero is preferable to what she used to be at the beginning. * ApocalypseMaiden: Toward the end of the manga, [[spoiler:her homicidal Diclonius instincts personality finally takes over and starts killing humans everywhere on the world at rates that would make the deadliest [=WMDs=] look like mere fireworks in an attempt to destroy humanity in a spiteful decision that since Diclonii, and mainly her, can't rule the world, she'll destroy it.]]* TheAtoner: As things go along, you'll find that Lucy really does regret her actions, and she tries her damnedest to make amends for it several points in her history, because ultimately, she's content to live with Kouta and would rather stop killing (hence why she doesn't do so in front of him). Unfortunately, this being ''Manga/ElfenLied'', fate just keeps trying to pull the rug under her feet anyway. [[spoiler:At the very end, when she has her SuperpowerMeltdown, she atones in the only way she can - by convincing a ''very'' reluctant Kouta to MercyKill her.]]* AxCrazy: In the manga, at least, Lucy doesn't just nonchalantly tear people to pieces, she does it with a huge grin on her face and a really EvilLaugh.** A point could be made that Lucy is simultaneously more and less AxCrazy than she was in the past. While she now takes [[SlasherSmile obvious]] [[EvilLaugh joy]] in slaughtering humans, she doesn't randomly kill everyone she comes across unless they've actually wronged her. * BadAss: Most definitely. At her weakest, she's considered a terrifying killer capable of killing dozens of armed guards with nothing on. By the end of the manga she's capable of destroying [[spoiler: islands, cities and nearly taking out the entire planet.]]* BadassAdorable: When she starts [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]], she builds up an immense reservoir of {{Moe}}.* BarbarianLongHair: Meant to emphasize on how tough, murderous, antisocial and uncontrollable she is.* TheBaroness: The Sexpot type but with the fear factor of the Rosa Klebb type turned UpToEleven.* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Kouta was the first person to treat her kindly and befriend her despite knowing she's different. Her days with him are her only happy memories, which is why Lucy fell deeply in love with him and he's the ''only'' human she refuses to harm.* BeleagueredChildhoodFriend: She and Kouta were very close friends when they were kids. In the present, he has conflicting feelings about her since she's now a mass murdering sociopath in the run [[spoiler:not to mention she's responsible for the deaths of his father and sister]]. In the end, he has to reconcile his lack of ability to forgive her with his lack of ability to hate her (no matter how much he says otherwise).* BerserkButton: Do not threaten anything she cares about, or she'll literally tear you apart. This especially applies to Kouta and dogs.* BlankWhiteEyes: In the anime, [[spoiler:when her right horn gets ripped off during the fight with Mariko]]. She appears to be in shock or comatose for several minutes.* BloodbathVillainOrigin: After she snaps and commits her first murder, the room she's in is almost totally covered with the blood of her victims.* BloodIsTheNewBlack: Frequently ends up being covered in blood after attacking people with her psychic powers.* BodyHorror: Towards the end of the manga. [[spoiler:Half of her face is melted off by that point.]]* BreakTheCutie: Her entire life has been one big moment of this.* BrokenBird: Treated like crap by most humans, bullied relentlessly during her childhood... yeah, Lucy's about as broken as it's possible to get.* BullyHunter: Though not [[ByronicHero actively hunting]], Lucy takes this trope to the logical extreme and beyond in her backstory. Just...don't hurt dogs near her. Though this is less a case of wanting to get her own back on bullies than a case of having a full-on psychotic breakdown.* ByronicHero: Morally neutral? To put it mildly. Largely concerned with personal interests? Check. Disrespect of common authority? Check. Tragic past? Dear God... Defined by conflict, inner and outer? Definitely. Attractive? Oh yes. Introspective loner? Check. Cynical, jaded, brooding and self-destructive? Definitely.* ChildhoodFriendRomance: She has been in love with Kouta since her childhood.* ClingyJealousGirl: In the most ''frightening'' way imaginable. Her jealousy involves murdering Kouta's family because he went to the festival with Yuka instead of her. She spared Yuka's life ''only'' because Kouta would hate her if she killed her.** Late in the manga, as she leaves her Maple House family for the last time, she asks Yuka to care for Kouta and Nana to protect their family. When Chief Kakuzawa makes his offer, all the residents of Maple House are in her thoughts, as she only wants to get back to them. Probably not at the same level as Kouta, but she has begun to put aside thoughts of the others as obstacles.* CombatPragmatist: Her vectors can't reach beyond two meters... so she'll just throw a boat at you, as Bando learned the hard way. * TheComicallySerious: Yeah, some of her funniest moments involve her saying something either really snarky or really odd while in a complete deadpan. Some of it is played for BlackComedy. * ContraltoOfDanger: In her Nyu persona, she is like an innocent young girl. When she switches to her Lucy persona, she has a much lower voice to match her dangerous and threatening nature.* CreepyChild: In flashbacks, which probably contributed to peoples' mistreatment of her.** Kind of a Catch-22. She became an EmotionlessGirl in order to deny her tormentors the joy of seeing her in pain, which then became another reason why she was despised, reinforcing the original bigotry and egging some on to make her react. They got their wish, yeah.* CurbStompBattle: Pretty much any "fight" she takes part in, [[spoiler:although this is reversed in the battle between Lucy and Mariko, but only in the Anime. And also ''completely'' Inverted in her second fight with Bando in the Manga.]] Averted by her duel with Nana, which is more or less an even match; Nana gets the advantage, but Lucy wins because she's far more willing to hurt Nana than vice versa.* CynicismCatalyst: Lucy's KillAllHumans mentality began because of the loss of her puppy at the hands of some very cruel kids, [[FromBadToWorse got worse when she felt betrayed by Kouta later on]], and practically crossed the DespairEventHorizon [[SenselessSacrifice after finding out that the human she tried to spare when she turned herself in dies from her wounds]].* DarkActionGirl: Fits both the "dark" and the "action" parts with emphasis.* DarkAndTroubledPast: Understatement of the century...* DarkIsEvil: In the only other outfit she's most seen in, she wears a black teddy. Pretty much spells out that she's not a pleasant person.* DarkMagicalGirl: With emphasis on ''dark'' considering that she's more violent than most. * DeadpanSnarker: A particularly cruel one. This exchange stands out:-->'''Nana''': I'm not scared of you! [[OnlyAFleshWound It doesn't hurt at all!]]\\(''Lucy rips off one of her arms'')\\'''Lucy''': So does it hurt ''now''?* DeathGlare: And a swift death follows. Always.* DefrostingIceQueen: Most of her arc in the anime. "Defrosting" also includes being slightly less murderous.* DesperatelyCravesAffection: It's her greatest strength and her FatalFlaw, because it pushes her to commit atrocities if she felt betrayed. * {{Determinator}}: No matter how many people oppose her. She ''will'' find Kouta and she ''will'' apologize to him, and anyone who gets in her way will die. Horribly. Also, if your name is Kurama, don't ''ever'' let your loved ones near her. She will kill ''[[RevengeByProxy every last one of them]]''. And there's ''nothing'' you can do to stop her.* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:** [[spoiler: Lucy "single"-handedly took out the giant precog monster Director Kakuzawa made Anna, ''HIS OWN DAUGHTER'' into.]]** [[spoiler:[[UnexplainedRecovery In the end, Anna reverted to her premutation state somehow.]]]]* DisproportionateRetribution: [[WomanScorned Lucy]] killed Kouta's little sister Kanae and his father in cold blood because he ''lied'' to her about the gender of his cousin Yuka. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone She was eventually aware of this]].* TheDogBitesBack: After the bullies at the orphanage push her too far by killing her puppy right in front of her, Lucy wastes no time dishing out swift payback with her newly activated vectors.* TheDreaded: Being a mass murdering girl who can rip apart armed soldiers and wants 99% of the people see sees dead will do that. Practically the only people who don't end up wetting themselves when she's near is Kakuzawa Senior [[spoiler: who gets his head ripped off]] and Bando [[spoiler: who gets mutilated. Though Bando at least is capable of putting up a good fight the second time.]] * DullEyesOfUnhappiness: A trademark identifier of Lucy.* EarnYourHappyEnding: Particularly in the manga. It is Lucy, [[spoiler:''not'' Nyu or Kaede, who ultimately defeats her EnemyWithin, recieves a MercyKill, and gets reincarnated (along with Nyu) at the very end.]] SoProudOfYou does not ''begin'' to cover it. * TheEeyore: Particularly in the anime, where damn-near every moment of screen time has her as a PerpetualFrowner. * EmotionlessGirl: As a child until [[spoiler:the children at her orphanage killed her puppy right in front of her]].* EnfantTerrible: In her younger days.* EnemyWithin: She has a pretty complicated mindset. Ultimately, however, it is [[spoiler:her DNA personality, the embodiment of her basic instincts, that is the undisputed, unambiguous villain who pushes her to do everything horrific on screen.]]* EvenEvilHasStandards: She has no qualms against killing... but avoids committing such acts in front of Kouta as much as possible. She also doesn't harm animals, as seen in her interactions with Wanta.* EvilIsHammy: Loves setting up cruel {{Mood Whiplash}}es in particularly creepy ways, to the point where she may even be {{Troll}}ing the readers. Loves laughing on the dead bodies of her victims. Always boasts and taunts about her power whenever she meets a foe she hates. And yet can somehow find a reservoir of Moe whenever she's near Kouta and boast about why she loves him.* EvilLaugh: Manga-only. On some pages, it is rendered with an extremely thick font.* EvilRedhead: Though she is more specifically a hot-pink head, and it's more specifically [[spoiler:her DNA Voice]] that's truly evil. * EvilSoundsDeep: Lucy's voice is low, deep, and quite ominous in comparison to Nyu's chirpy, childish, high-pitched voice.* {{Expy}}:** Many of Lucy's traits are identical to [[Manga/{{Monster}} Johan Liebert]]. Both of them were [[UsedToBeASweetKid once innocent kids, but turned insane when affected by secret military experiments]] [[spoiler:(in Lucy's case, her insanity was the result of the DNA voice stemming from her Diclonius instincts as well as just having a rotten life due to bigotry. While Liebert's twisting was the result of sadistic experiments, the Diclonius are the result of a random evolution supported by the delusional BigBad)]], are experts at manipulating people, are comparable to TheAntichrist, have ambitions to end the world, passion of destroying human life, multiple personalities, traumatized their lovers, an obsessive and murderous love towards someone that cares for them, [[BiblicalMotifs Biblical]] and German-related motifs, and try to have the person who actually cared for them kill them. The difference here is that Lucy is portrayed ''much'' more sympathetically. ** Also, her traits matched with ''Manga/DragonBall'''s Lunch. Both have multiple personalities; one is a ditzy [[NiceGuy nice girl]], and the other is a [[SociopathicHero sociopathic heroine]], but also [[TheStoic stoic]]. Eventually, the latter sides eventually gain a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold heart of gold]] and [[TokenEvilTeammate working with the main character and his friends]]. That gives them both an [[OddFriendship odd friendship]] with a girl who is a non-combatant (Yuka and Bulma) and an unrequited love interest (Kouta and Tenshinhan). They eventually disappear after the end of their works (while the former being [[spoiler:killed by Kouta]] in the manga and [[spoiler:having her bad side killed by the army]] in the anime with the latter being written out).* FaceDeathWithDignity: In the anime finale, she shares a LastKiss with Kouta before calmly going to face a BolivianArmyEnding, though the final scene implies she survived.* FieryRedhead: She is one you would not want to provoke, or you would be dead.* ForcedToWatch: Her StartOfDarkness was when a [[KidsAreCruel group of bullies]] [[MoralEventHorizon beat the puppy she had started caring for to death]] while making her watch. [[AssholeVictim They don't survive]] [[YourHeadAsplode the consequences]].* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Kouta initially met Lucy in his childhood after she killed her first victims. Unlike everyone else, he found her horns fascinating and forged a strong bond of friendship with her, thus keeping her murderous Diclonius instincts repressed. However, he erased her from his memory after she brutally killed his father and sister right in front of him because he neglected to specify his cousin's gender.* FreakinessShame: She hated her horns since she was bullied because of them, but Kouta told her he thought they are cool. * FreudianExcuse: ''In spades''.* FriendlessBackground: She spent her childhood in an OrphanageOfFear where she had no friends and was frequently bullied by the other children for her horns and emotionlessness. The one person who it seemed like she was gonna become friends with at the orphanage later betrayed her and sold her out to the boys that had been bullying her. She then made two more attempts to reach out to someone else and become their friend. The first ends with her feeling betrayed once again, while the second ends in her new friend being killed and her being captured. After that it's sort of understandable why she stopped trying.* FromNobodyToNightmare: She was resigned to being bullied by [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer the other children]] at the orphanage for being a [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair freak]] [[RedEyesTakeWarning of]] [[UnusualEars nature]]. Then she got the power to turn a perfectly ordinary living room into a blender.* FullFrontalAssault: The fact that Lucy has nothing on but a helmet in the first scene of the anime does not stop her from taking on and killing dozens of soldiers as she fights her way free from a military facility.* GoodGirlGoneBad: She was nice and sweet, until a group of orphans beat to death Lucy's puppy, the only being in the world she actually cared about. And they found out about it from a girl who pretended to be her friend, the first human she was beginning to trust. That's when her murder spree began, although it was put down eventually thanks to Kouta. However, after he lies about his cousin's gender and she finds out the truth, she's gone for good.* GreenEyedMonster: Manga only and literally.* GroundPunch: The manga has Lucy using her vectors (basically invisible hands) to strike the ground in order to jump long distances, they even leave hand marks and small craters behind.* HearingVoices: [[spoiler:This is how the (presumably) genetic urge to KillAllHumans manifests itself to Lucy for the first time. It probably put a damper on her childhood relationship with Kouta when she didn't even notice that she was strangling him.]]* TheHeartless: [[spoiler: Her "DNA" voice could count since it's the result of all the abuse she went when she was a child.]]* HellishPupils: Only in the manga, but she does not have them always.* HeroesLoveDogs: Well, [[SociopathicHero not exactly a hero]], but she clearly has a soft spot for dogs. It was the brutal murder of a puppy that she cared for that finally made her snap.* HeroicRROD: Toward the end of the manga, [[spoiler: she literally melts due abusing of her telekinetic powers.]]* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Toward the end of the manga.]]* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Villainous version. She puts herself down very often, usually when it [[{{Yandere}} involves Kouta]].* HiddenEyes: Quite often, although ''very'' prominent when she's just reverted back to Lucy.* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Lucy believes strongly this (and textually says this). And considering all she'd been through, one can't honestly blame her.* ImplacableWoman: Go ahead. Keep throwing shit at her. She will ''always'' plow through it to get to you.* TheJuggernaut: A very graphic version of this trope. It's shocking to those who hear "Juggernaut" and think of the huge, muscly guy from X-Men. Lucy is a cute pink-haired teenage girl... until she rips you in half, spilling your blood everywhere.* KarmaHoudini:** Averted in the manga; Kouta does ''not'' forgive her for brutally murdering his dad and sister in cold blood, [[spoiler: and she dies by SuperpowerMeltdown,]] but [[spoiler:the personalities of Lucy and Nyu are reincarnated as twin girls and are reunited with Kouta some years later.]] In the anime, however, she is implied to survive her last showdown with the army, and while Kouta doesn't exactly ''forgive'' her (or at least not her actions), he's much more sympathetic to her plight, and he'd rather see the killing stop than seek revenge.** Her Anime fate can very well be a subversion of this, [[spoiler:as it's strongly implied (even more so if we add an element from the Manga) that Kaede purposefully killed her DNA Voice side so [[HelplessGoodSide Nyu]] can finally live in peace with Kouta.]]* KickTheDog: Very, very much. ** Brutally murdering Kouta's father and little sister without any provocation was so horrible and over the top that that even Lucy herself agreed that there was no atonement for that.** When she goes on her rampage in the festival, she kills a woman ''because she showed concern'' for Lucy. In this case, however, it's slightly justified in that Lucy was... [[MoreThanMindControl not exactly]] [[MindRape in her right mind]] at the time.** Slicing off Nana's limbs ''after'' the threat she posed was completely neutralized.** Trying to kill Mayu ''after Mayu tried to help her''. However, this is partially negated by Lucy's own regret at even considering it (see ShootTheDog and PetTheDog below). ** Killing an entire family in a house, both so she could crash for the night and because she was jealous at how the family was having a happy life. This event was meant to really show just how ''bitter'' the world made her.** She keeps attacking [[spoiler:Alicia and Barbara]] who are trying to save [[spoiler:Nousou]] while they are helpless and she kills one of them. It's not like [[KickTheSonOfABitch they didn't see it coming]], since they took her [[spoiler:home]].* KickTheMoralityPet: She brutally killed Kouta's father and sister Kanae because he lied to her about his cousin's gender. Quite a bit of guilt over said incident remains in her heart.* KickTheSonOfABitch: The [[KidsAreCruel cruel kids]] at the orphanage, along with Bando (the first time around), the Unknown Man, and Kakuzawa (Junior and Senior), ''all had it coming''.* KidsAreCruel: As a child, she was tormented by cruel kids because of her "cute little horns" and her emotionlessness. They even [[spoiler: '''killed a puppy just to mess with her''']]. Gets worse when you realize they wanted to torture the dog first to mess with her. It just happened to die on the first blow.* KillAllHumans: If it wasn't for [[spoiler:[[MoralityChain Kouta]]]], she would've done this ''long'' ago.* TheLastDance: [[spoiler:Kouta has a fatal gunshot wound, Lucy's body is already at limits from a abortive attempt at avenging the aforementioned fact '''on a global scale''', and JSDF air and maritime forces are already scrambling to take her out with their ''full firepower''. What does Lucy do? She proceeds to sing ''Manga/ElfenLied'' while [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome patching up Kouta's body ]] ''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome on a cellular level]]'' '''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and]]''' [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome blasting the JSDF forces out of both sky and sea]], ''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome simultaneously]]. And she knows full well that she's going to end up with a fatal SuperpowerMeltdown.]]* LastKiss: [[spoiler:In the anime, Lucy kisses Kouta shortly before confronting the soldiers who have been assigned to kill her. Her fate, however, is left ambiguous.]]* LimpAndLivid: Quite a lot. Whenever Nyu flips over to Lucy her head drops so her hair covers/shades her eyes. * LongLostSibling: In the manga, [[spoiler:she has a younger half-brother, the first male Diclonius. Upon meeting each other, she kills him. She doesn't hate him, but she did it because their kind can't exist anymore and the fact he was being controlled by Kakuzawa, making it a MercyKill.]]* LoveMakesYouEvil: At first, but she does get slightly better.* LoveMartyr: For starters, it was her love of Aiko that made Lucy subject herself to years of human experimentation - tantamount to a living hell, yet she was fine with it as long as Aiko survived... and when she was told Aiko didn't survive, Lucy was ''crushed''. When she gets free, she spends the rest of her life trying to find Kouta so she could apologize for what she did to his family, even though she knows she can't atone for it. When that happens, and he flat out says that he hates her for what she did to his family, she still embraces him when he accepts her into his house in exchange for not killing anymore. When he takes the bullet for her from Kurama, it was her love of Kouta that drove her to heal him at the cost of a SuperpowerMeltdown.* MadeOfIron: She survives taking an anti-tank slug to the head in the first episode. To be fair, though, the thing barely grazes her, she's wearing a helmet, and she has her vectors to protect her. She still does survive falling hundreds of feet off a cliff into the ocean without drowning immediately afterwards though.* ManipulativeBitch: Well, specifically, [[spoiler:her DNA personality]], which follows an EnemyWithin scenario.* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Masculine Girl to Kouta's Feminine Boy. She's a [[AxCrazy psychotic]] {{mutant|s}} who will [[IncrediblyLamePun single-handedly]] [[PersonOfMassDestruction fight and kill armies in order to protect]] Kouta, the NonActionGuy.* MagicalGirlfriend: [[{{Deconstruction}} Dismembers the genre]] with a rusty chainsaw.* MeatShield: Used a poor office girl at the laboratory as one when she escaped. The girl didn't even know what was going on before Lucy ripped her head off.* MeaningfulName:** Can be seen alternatively as a female version of Lucifer (the devil, which fits her role as an evil mass-murderer), and also sounds like "lucid," which could refer to Nyu only initially talking in full sentences when Lucy is at the wheel. ** Lucy is also the name of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_%28Australopithecus%29 protohomonid skeleton]] with an upright gait and small brain capacity, suggesting a missing link between the great apes and modern humans. Lucy, being the first of her kind capable of "proper" reproduction, could also potentially serve as a missing link between humans and some future Diclonius race.** [[spoiler: the name Kaede refers to a kind of Japanese maple tree, and the Latin ''Acer'' is the name for the genus of maples to which it belongs. ''Acer'' means "sharp" or "piercing," referring to the bladelike leaves of the maple tree. Fitting given Lucy's personality and her...well, tendency to slice things up.]]* MementoMacGuffin: Lucy's letter to Kouta. [[spoiler:It also reveals her true name.]]* MonsterProgenitor:** She's not the first diclonius by a long shot, but [[spoiler: her vectors are capable of spreading the diclonius condition to the gametes of humans she touches with them.]]** And how can we forget that [[spoiler: she's the only fertile female of her species]].* MonsterSobStory: Her backstory, and holy hell, is it ''sad''.* MoreThanMindControl: [[spoiler: Turns out Lucy was DrivenToMurder in part, by the manipulations of an OmnicidalManiac SplitPersonality within her (born from either [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds snapping]] [[BreakTheCutie at the constant abuse]], her own [[InTheBlood genetic drive]] to KillAllHumans, or ''[[TakeAThirdOption both]]'').]]* MurderIsTheBestSolution: If you even ''slightly'' irritate or wrong her in any way, shape, or form, you're dead. Justified to a degree, as her... not-so-happy life prompted this as a defense mechanism for her. * MurderTheHypotenuse: This is what she is trying to do to Yuka. The only way that stops her from attempting to do that is Kouta's presence near her. In the flashbacks, she does this to Kouta's sister and father.* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Her [[MurderTheHypotenuse murders]] of Kouta's father and little sister. They're the ''only'' kills she actually feels any remorse over.* MysteriousWaif: It's what got Kouta and Yuka to adopt her into the family at first.%%* NightmareFuelStationAttendant* NominalHero: ''On her very best of days''.* NotSoStoic: In the manga, whenever she's on a killing spree, she's happier than a kid high on weed. * OffWithHisHead: Her preferred method of killing people she hates. It's swift, fast, ''bloodless'', and efficient. Everyone else (including Bando) fall under LudicrousGibs.* OmnicidalManiac: Pretty damn much. Understandable, since she had been put through so much abuse that she gave in to the DNA Voice's orders to butcher all humans.* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Most people seem to either not know or forget that "Lucy" isn't her real name. [[spoiler:As revealed toward the end of the manga, "Lucy"'s real name is Kaede.]]* OneWomanArmy: She's known for gaining a massive headcount.* TheOphelia: She's pretty and she's broken on account of LoveMakesYouEvil. Yup.* OrphansOrdeal: Okay, that was an ''awful fucking orphanage'', man.* PayEvilUntoEvil: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Though she ''is'' more sadistic towards people who deserve it. She'll ''kill'' anyone, but she'll ''torture'' people like Bando half to death.* PeekABangs: She has one eye covered by her hair, though not when she's in her alternate personality Nyu, and not during flashbacks either. * PerpetualFrowner: In stark contrast to Nyu. An [[SlasherSmile exception]] is reserved for when everybody else is [[MadeOfPlasticine unhappy]].* PersonOfMassDestruction:** An order of magnitude more dangerous than the other Diclonii, due to [[spoiler:being fertile]].** She also has the power to [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy the Earth]]. [[SuperpowerMeltdown At the cost of her own life]]...* PetTheDog: Her moments of compassion are rare, but very poignant, because it shows that she still has some humanity left in her fractured mind. As time goes on, both in the anime and the manga, the more these moments pile on, [[DefrostingIceQueen the more humanity ultimately returns to her]].** The first instance that shows she still has a heart came in the form of her meeting Mayu's dog in a cage. While it ''looks'' like she killed the puppy, it turns out that she actually cut the rope that kept him restrained and allowed him to reunite with Mayu.** Speaking of Mayu, Lucy actually took the time to protect her from a fight with another Diclonius, and that was when they first met. She literally had no reason to even acknowledge Mayu's existence, but she went out of her way to protect her anyway. ** She may be a mass murdering sociopath fueled by her hatred of humans, but her ability to love is ''powerful''. The shit that she ''allows herself to suffer through'', purely for the sake of her loved ones, is her single greatest trait. See UndyingLoyalty below.** Nothing will excuse her KickTheDog moments, but she has shown that she ''can'' (and does) learn from her mistakes if given a chance. In particular, after the incident with Kouta's family, she refuses to kill Aiko's asshole dad purely because she'd rather not make Aiko sad; she encourages and actively tries to get Aiko to reunite with her mother; she offers to take the blame after Aiko accidentally killed her father; she doesn't commit infanticide after what happened with Kanae (and even feels ''bad'' about trying it with Mayu so Kouta wouldn't have to relive his memories of Kanae); and she refrains from killing anyone in Kouta's presence, no matter how much she personally hates her targets.** She was surprisingly regretful at the idea of killing Mayu (most likely an attempt to keep Mayu from triggering Kouta's own memories as a result).** She hated her mother for all her life... but when she finds out the truth of what her mother went through, Lucy forgives her. ** Her genuine grief over her murders of Kouta's father and sister. That was awful, but it was nice to see Lucy herself show remorse for once. She knows she can't fully atone for it, but she still ''wants'' to atone anyway, which says a lot about how much it was eating her up inside. ** When she accepts his offer to stay with him on the condition that she doesn't kill again, it shows that, yes, she really would rather just stop killing altogether if it meant living a normal life. ** When the Maple House is attacked, and Nyu holds off much of the invasion force, Lucy wakes up, and notices that Kouta had regained his memories of her killing his family. Perhaps resigned to the fact that she and Kouta could never be together, the first thing Lucy does... is to ask Nana to care for the Maple House and its residents. Furthermore, she even asks ''Yuka'' to take care of Kouta. * ThePowerOfLove: At the very end, it is her love of Kouta that eventually enables her to ''beat'' her EnemyWithin.* ThePromise: Lucy and Kouta agree to meet at the stone behind the festival terrain on the last day of the summer festival.* PsychopathicWomanchild: A combination of Types C, D because of Nyu, and E.* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter: She very rarely smiles unless she's killing someone.* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:In the manga, she defies her DNA Voice's desire to go on a SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum by stopping her vectors from causing anymore damage and asking Kouta to MercyKill her. The anime is more ambiguous, but she does lose her other horn and a woman in her figure shows up in front of the Maple House.]]* RedEyesTakeWarning: In the anime. In the manga, they're [[GreenEyes green]] according to the cover art.* {{Reincarnation}}: At the end of the manga, where [[spoiler:the twins are apparently separate reincarnations of Kaede and Nyu]].* RetiredMonster: Yes and no. By the time the series starts, Lucy pretty much has murder as the ''only'' option regarding humans, but she seems to limit her present-day killings to unsavory people. She does get better, though, ala DefrostingIceQueen.* SanitySlippage: A chapter dedicated to her childhood shows she got so unstable and murderous through this trope.* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: When Bando decides to kill Lucy by shooting the grenade next to his dead teammate, he forgot an important object: the teammate's automatic machine rifle. It went to hell from there.* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler: Before her capture (sometime after she killed Kouta's father and sister), she turns herself in as a final attempt to give humanity a chance and to save a new friend's life. She later finds out when being bound in the very place first seen that her friend died from her wounds and that practically drove Lucy to cross the DespairEventHorizon.]]* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Unlike Nyu, she does know that being naked is a problem, but she often has other things on her mind.* ShootTheDog: It isn't clear if she truly meant to kill Mayu or if it was a fakeout by the author, but her closeness to Mayu after fighting Bando a second time suggests she meant to kill her, possibly due to Mayu being present for Lucy's fight with Nana and thus a possible witness to tell Kouta and the others about the situation.* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: She falls for Kouta because he is the first person to be genuinely kind to her and not shun her because she is different ([[FreakyIsCool he even finds her horns cool]]). Even though she gets, to say the least, deranged and murderous later in life, she continues loving Kouta for his virtues and refuses to harm him.* SlasherSmile: When she's killing folks, but only in the manga.* SociopathicHero: She does show lack of regard for human life and has shown empathy for other people (namely Aiko) in the past, but by the time Elfen Lied starts, she's too far gone in her hatred of humans.* TheSouthpaw: It's not explicitly stated that she's left-handed, but both times she uses a machine gun, she fires it with her left hand. Fitting since left-handedness has been seen as an ill omen in some cultures or an outright sign of devilish influence in Christian cultures.* StartOfDarkness: Episodes 8 & 9 show Lucy's backstory, along with the only happy day she spent while with Kouta when they were kids. The manga does this sooner, at the time of episode 6.* TheStoic: When outside of a fight, but mostly in the anime which takes away her SlasherSmile. * StringyHairedGhostGirl: Tends to have this appearance whenever she reverts back to her Lucy persona from her Nyu persona.* SugarAndIcePersonality: Cold and deeply cynical, but only because she's been hurt so badly every time she lets her guard down. She can be very genuinely caring and insanely loyal towards those she becomes attached to. She may slaughter humans without hesitation or remorse, but her capacity for love is still very real.* SuperpoweredEvilSide: She's it, except [[spoiler:there's an even ''more'' evil side that's essentially her basic instincts.]]* SuperpowerMeltdown: [[spoiler:Toward the end of the manga, Lucy goes into a literal meltdown due abusing of her telekinetic powers while destroying some planes and then for saving Kouta.]]* SympatheticMurderer: Even being a mass murderer with a penchant for {{Slasher Smile}}s and ColdBloodedTorture isn't enough to keep her from being sympathetic; her backstory is ''just that crappy''.* ThemeMusicPowerUp: In the manga, Lucy sings the German song "[[TitleDrop Elfenlied]]" while [[spoiler:'''taking on an entire army from thousands of kilometers away''']]. Apparently, the more thematic the song, the bigger the powerup.* ThenLetMeBeEvil: She's a member of a race genetically predisposed towards the destruction of the human race. Which was ''only'' ever triggered because the humans she met all treated her like ''shit''. Nice going there. * TokenEvilTeammate: In the main cast (consisting of herself, Kouta, Nana, Yuka, and Mayu), she's easily the most unhinged and villainous of the bunch.* TragicVillain: A very tragic one at that. A broken little girl who became a murderous monster after she snapped at the world's relentless cruelty and her own budding insanity. * TranquilFury: In the anime, where she kills without a change in her facial expressions.* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Her vectors activated after the bullies at the orphanage killed her puppy and made her watch.* {{Tsundere}}: Type A, when she was young. Also when she's older, she tries to show Kouta the cold shoulder, but has some adorable moments when he faces her.* TsurimeEyes: Narrow, tortured and focused, in contrast to Nyu's bright and happy ones.* TheUnfettered: She will find Kouta, and she will express how awful she feels about killing his family. No way you'll ever stop her from doing that. No way she'll let you stop her from that single goal.** Alternatively, her [[spoiler:DNA Voice personality]] has no reservations about doing anything in her considerable amount of power to kill all the humans and replace them with her species.* UndyingLoyalty: If her FatalFlaw is that she DesperatelyCravesAffection, then her greatest quality is her ''insane'' devotion to the people she loves. In fact, her loyalty is arguably ''greater'' than her desire for affection, because she willingly puts herself in harm's way for the people she cares about, frequently sacrifices her own betterment in exchange for theirs and absolutely refuses to abandon them or hate them even if they treat her badly.* UngratefulBitch: It is implied she once tried to kill Mayu right after Mayu saved her from being killed, but it isn't clear whether she truly intended to kill her or if it was just a fakeout. Granted, Lucy did have her vectors close to Mayu after she dealt with Bando (who tried to save Mayu as a result), so one could argue this was at least partially attributed to her being a CombatPragmatist. * UnstoppableRage: About 90% of the time. * UsedToBeASweetKid: She started out as a [[ShrinkingViolet kind-hearted, but shy]] little girl, but through enough [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer torment]], [[DarkMagicalGirl crippling loneliness]], and [[EnemyWithin a psychotic inner voice]], became an AxCrazy mass murderer bent on [[KillAllHumans killing all humans]].* VillainProtagonist: She has killed armed men and innocent children, for reasons ranging from "trying to kill me" to "You killed my dog" to "I envy your happy, normal life, and I need a place to crash." Here's our heroine, ladies and gentlemen. * ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: If she sees you as a threat to Kouta, you will die. Period.* VomitDiscretionShot: During her breakdown at the summer festival we hear her vomit with the back to the audience (Strangely, tons of severed heads and oceans of spilt blood are not as bad as a small pool of vomit).* WeakButSkilled:** She's actually not that powerful compared to some of the other diclonii; Nana has longer vectors and can hold her at bay, while Mariko is an outright nuke. Lucy is a ''far'' more experienced killer, and when Nana tries to go easy on her, Lucy [[ColdBloodedTorture rips her limbs off]].** [[spoiler: Subverted in the end of the manga where her vectors can split islands and have a reach of at least hundreds of kilometers.]]* WhenSheSmiles: She hardly ''ever'' smiles (when she's not killing someone), but when [[http://i55.tinypic.com/20r0bhj.jpg she]] [[http://i53.tinypic.com/erju6t.jpg does...]]* WomanScorned: Sure, Kouta! Don't tell Lucy that you're going to the festival with your female cousin! Even if she finds out, it's not like she'll go so far as to murder your little sister, your father, and dozens of other people, right?** To be fair, Lucy admits that if Kouta had told her he was going to the festival with a female cousin, she probably would have hunted down the cousin and killed her.* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Several characters think that it's her natural instinct to eradicate humanity, but given her [[BreakTheCutie past]], her experiences alone would be enough to make her what she is. She truly believes that she's doing all those atrocities out of instinct, so if we look at the nurture aspect, we come to the conclusion that she {{Mind Rape}}d herself (with a little help from ''nearly everyone around her'' [[spoiler:and [[EnemyWithin an inner voice]] / [[SplitPersonality alternate personality]] that wants to eradicate all life]]) into believing that she was, in her own words, "born to wipe out mankind".* WouldHurtAChild: Would kill them, actually.* {{Yandere}}: Played UpToEleven. As it turns out, the reason she killed Kouta's father and sister was that she was angry at Kouta for lying to her and saying that the cousin he was going round the festival with was a boy instead of a girl (apparently, even if Kouta did tell her it was a girl, someone was going to die anyway). DisproportionateRetribution at the worst, although she seriously regretted it later, to the point that the thought of eventually apologizing to him gave her the will to survive.

!!Nyu[[quoteright:225:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Elfen_Lied_Nyu.jpg]]Not a separate character in the strictly technical sense, Nyu is the split personality of Lucy that developed after a .50 BMG round grazed the metallic helmet protecting her head. Nyu has a childlike personality, an infantile knowledge of the world, and lacks spoken language skills, only able to say "Nyu" and "Kouta" most of the time. Nyu is innocent and incapable of violent acts, a foil to the normally cold and sadistic Lucy; she is the manifestation of Lucy's "good side".

When Nyu is attacked violently she regresses into Lucy; likewise, when Lucy is treated with love and kindness or wants to hide herself from Kouta, she will switch back into Nyu. While Nyu exists first due to trauma, [[spoiler: it is believed that Lucy subconsciously encourages her presence due to her feelings of guilt towards Kouta. In the manga, this is confirmed by Lucy herself.]]----!!!Tropes associated with Nyu:* AlternateIdentityAmnesia: She has no memories of her past or what her Lucy side does.* AmbiguouslyBi: She only loves Kouta... but that doesn't keep her from [[SkinshipGrope groping]] other girls. Even after she becomes intelligent, she wonders why she wants to SkinshipGrope Yuka, likely due to her former self's influence.* AmnesiacsAreInnocent: Gets worse after she gets the memories back.* AnythingThatMoves: Nyu tends to be rather... [[SkinshipGrope indiscriminate]] when it comes to others. Not exactly indiscriminate, as she prefers [[BuxomIsBetter bigger boobs]] than small ones like Mayu's.** She also does not grope Kouta because she explains that men have no boobs. Though, she prefers that he would grope ''her''.* AttemptedRape: PlayedForLaughs. What she does to Nozomi looks like attempted rape, though Nyu is not aware what's going on.* BewareTheNiceOnes: Let's just say that putting her in danger, hitting her on the head hard enough, or getting her drunk or drugged will make her revert to her Lucy persona.* BlankSlate: She has no useful speech abilities, latches emotionally on to the first people she meets, and frequently doesn't seem to understand what's going on. The anime cuts off before [[spoiler:Lucy is reduced to an extended coma and]] Nyu is allowed to develop. She is even able to talk in full sentences, and is, at that point, a full personality that directly contrasts Lucy perfectly. She still keeps her VerbalTic, though.* BuxomIsBetter: Nyu likes groping bigger breasts and is disappointed of Mayu's small ones.[[note]]This is up to interpretation: her desire to grope women may be from a desire to make them feel good, since being groped felt good for her, but Mayu was clearly only upset; no telling whether she stops groping small breasts because she doesn't like small ones, or because she concluded that flat girls wouldn't feel good from it.[[/note]]* CuteMute: In the sense that her trauma left her with a ''very'' limited vocabulary. She gets better.%%* TheDitz* DrivenToSuicide: In the manga, [[spoiler:when she finds out that she's a mass murderer, she tries to kill herself, but cannot do it]].* ForcedKiss: To Yuka and Nozomi.* GenkiGirl: Much more prominent in the manga. After being able to form sentences, she has such a happy personality that the manga looks like a {{Reconstruction}} of an UnwantedHarem anime.* HelplessGoodSide: ''In spades''. Lucy is a psychotic murderer. Nyu is an innocent amnesiac girl who initially doesn't even know how to use a restroom. [[spoiler:She's not so helpless when she's able to use her vectors herself.]]* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:When she is captured again, she thinks it was impossible that her ''actual'' side is the killer.]]* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Too many incidents to count. Probably the most notable is that she has walked up to Kouta and shoved his hand against her breast, twice, and the 2nd time they were both naked.* InnocentlyInsensitive: She cheerfully breaks the seashell Kanae gave to Kouta, which greatly infuriates him. Yuka tries to defend Nyu, saying that maybe she broke the seashell because she thought it made Kouta sad.* InstantExpert: When Nozomi teaches Nyu how to sing, she chooses her favorite song ''Elfenlied'', a German song in old German. Nyu is able to sing it fine and [[SuddenlyBilingual has no trouble with the language at all]].* LovableSexManiac: At least, in the manga. She is constantly making Kouta grope her and molesting the other girls that live at the inn. Subverted in that she doesn't understand the gravity of her actions, and is only (for the most part) copying things that she's seen others doing.%%* MysticalWaif* NiceGirl: One of the biggest contrasts to her alter ego.* NoPeriodsPeriod: Rather graphically subverted.* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: She constantly [[TheGlomp glomps]] Kouta, and fondles Yuka's breasts on more than one occasion. Not to menton Nozomi's crotch.* PokemonSpeak: Technically, she was nicknamed after the only word she could speak at first. It later becomes subverted after the cutoff from the anime.* PottyFailure: In the first anime episode.* ThePrankster: In the manga, she tries to play a prank on Kouta as revenge for scolding at her (and maybe for stopping her AttemptedRape on Nozomi) by surprising him. The timing of her prank is really bad, as the person she surprise turns out not to be Kouta, but Nana, who attacks her because of Lucy dismembering her.* RoseHairedSweetie: She's innocent, cheery and optimistic in contrast to EvilRedhead Lucy.* SatelliteLoveInterest: She's a BlankSlate, picked up by Kouta from a beach. Possibly a subversion, in that Nyu's attraction to Kouta is a reflection of her true personality Lucy.* SkinshipGrope: She recognizes this behavior as acceptable due to [[AccidentalPervert Kouta's]] mishap.* SuddenlyBilingual: Nyu has no trouble to sing the German song "Elfenlied" for the first time.* TaremeEyes: A contrast to Lucy's eyes.* TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket: Nyu is essentially an infant in an adult body.* VerbalTicName: Although her speech pathology makes sense, as she took a bullet to the head.* WomanChild: Averted later on in the manga.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kouta]]!!Kouta!!!Voiced by: Creator/ChihiroSuzuki (JP), Adam Conlon (series), Creator/BlakeShepard (OVA) (EN)[[quoteright:225:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kouta_Elfen_Lied_3239.jpg]]An 18-year-old student who arrives in the Kanagawa Prefecture to attend college. He is the male lead and {{Deuteragonist}} of the series. Kouta lives in a closed-down inn with his cousin, Yuka, while attending university.

Kouta has repressed traumatic memories of witnessing, firsthand, the deaths of his father and sister. He ended up in a psychiatric ward for over a year following the event, but eventually made a full recovery. As a result, he is particularly sympathetic towards [[TheDulcineaEffect girls in trouble]] and is extremely generous to and protective of the girls around him. He is very kind and gentle as well, offering to shelter the various suffering characters he and Yuka stumble across, and treating them as part of his family. He and Yuka both initially meet Lucy as she washes up on the shore of a nearby beach.----!!!Tropes associated with Kouta:* AbsurdlyYouthfulFather: Kouta and Yuka adopt Mayu, despite there only being a 5 year age difference.* AccidentalPervert: Yuka [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale slaps him a lot for this]]. The first time it happened, Nyu had been out in the rain and her clothes were soaked. Kouta tried helping her change with his eyes closed, but his cousin walked in at just the right moment for his honest explanation to be hardest to believe.* AdoptivePeerParent: He and Yuka both adopt Mayu despite the fact that they're both university students and Mayu is 14.* AngstComa: In the backstory, spent an entire year in a coma after watching his little sister Kanae and his father get slaughtered right in front of him by Lucy. * BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:The DistantFinale shows him going to the place where he first met Lucy/Kaede to wait for her with his daughter Nyu, who resembles Yuka.]]* BreakTheCutie: Him seeing his father and sister killed got him hit mentally & emotionally ''hard''.* CaughtInTheRain: When Kouta and Yuka are looking for Nyu and it suddenly starts raining. By the time they find shelter at a nearby shrine, they're both drenched, so they huddle together for warmth. Yuka admits her feelings for him, kisses him unexpectedly, and tells him that she doesn't want to be separated from him again. Kouta wipes her tears away and returns the kiss. The rain stops just as suddenly as it started, and when Kouta comments on it, Yuka realizes what she did, panics a little, and falls off of Kouta's lap. Cue PantyShot, AccidentalPervert, and MegatonPunch.** The manga takes their encounter a few steps further...* ChickMagnet: Attracts a teenaged, mutant girl with horns on her head and even his own cousin! Also Nozomi, but she does not fall for him that hard like the others.* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Lucy, but he doesn't remember her. * ClassicalAntiHero: Kouta is a protagonist with no superpowers, has some psychological issues and not any talents. He's also a student in a rather low-leveled university.* DarkAndTroubledPast: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anyone?* DeathGlare: [[spoiler:To Lucy, right after he regains his memories in the manga.]]* {{Deuteragonist}}: He's the second most important character over here, due to his relationship with Lucy.* DidNotDieThatWay: Kouta eventually finds out that [[spoiler:his father and sister did not die from an accident and an illness, respectively, but that they were both murdered in front of him by Lucy, and the trauma of witnessing this caused him to block the memories out]].* TheDulcineaEffect: Only slightly, but Kouta is undeniably more inclined to go the extra distance to help out a girl in need.* {{Expy}}: Kouta bears some resemblance to other characters from ''Creator/LynnOkamoto's'' previous works. To Aoki from ''Lime Yellow'' and the nameless protagonist of ''Memoria'', who also has a ForgottenFirstMeeting with a girl he meets many years later. A later one-shot, ''Allumage'', has young boy who looks very similar to Kouta, especially when this child grows up.* FirstKiss: Stolen by Yuka.* ForgottenFirstMeeting: In actuality, Kouta met Lucy in his childhood after she killed her first victims. Unlike everyone else, he found her horns fascinating and forged a strong bond of friendship with her. However, he erased her from his memory after she brutally killed his father and sister right in front of him because he lied to her about his cousin's gender.* FreakyIsCool: He was the first person to think that Lucy's horns are cool.* FriendToAllLivingThings: Kouta loves animals and he studies biology to work with animals.* HeroicBSOD: He went through one when he was a child that lasted for a year, and caused him to repress some painful childhood memories.* InterspeciesRomance: With Lucy, since she's a Diclonius.* IWillWaitForYou: In the manga, [[spoiler:after he kills Lucy/Nyu he goes to the place where he first met Lucy/Kaede the last day of the summer festival to wait for her every year, even though he knows she won't come. However, it's implied he manages to meet Lucy/Kaede's and Nyu's reincarnations.]]%%* TheKirk: To Yuka's [[TheSpock Spock]] and Lucy/Nyu's [[TheMcCoy McCoy]].* KissingCousins: He is attracted to his cousin Yuka, as the temple scene indicates, but then there's Lucy/Nyu muddying things up. In the final chapter of the manga, [[spoiler:it's implied they end up together. If Kouta's daughter's resemblance to Yuka is any indication.]]** The manga also implies that his feelings for Yuka were always stronger than for Lucy/Nyu, judging from his many scenes with Yuka.* LivingEmotionalCrutch: He is both this and a MoralityChain to Lucy. She still loves him and one of, if not the only thing that gives her the will to go on is the thought of one day finding Kouta again and apologizing to him for killing his father and sister.* LovesMyAlterEgo: He tells Lucy he loves both her and Nyu.* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to Lucy's Masculine Girl. Kouta isn't exactly archetypically girly, but he is much more quiet and less-action geared than Lucy.* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:He promises Yuka to never leave her again at the end of the manga. In the DistantFinale, his daughter resembles Yuka.]]* MoralityChain: His very existence is the only reason Lucy hasn't completely snapped right now.* MoralityPet: To Lucy; he's the ''only'' human that she will never hurt or try to hurt.* NiceGuy: Though [[TheFool not always]], but case in point: he was the first human to ever treat Lucy with an ounce of human decency.* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Him telling Lucy that he was going his cousin to the festival and lying about her gender was what caused her to kill his father and sister.* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: When they meet as children, he is genuinely kind to Lucy. Then, she kills his sister and father.* NonActionGuy: Kouta. He isn't very strong, [[TooDumbToLive smart]], has no powers, weapons or anything except some cool friends.** Although he has a knack for solving his problems by slapping/punching people in the face.* NotWhatItLooksLike:** Played straight when Kouta tries to change Nyu's wet clothes, as she doesn't know how to do it herself.** Subverted once when it's exactly what it looks like. Kouta is most definitely groping Nyu, mostly because she made him. [[ClingyJealousGirl Yuka is not exactly convinced by his explanation.]]** Happens again when Mayu sees him and Nyu in the bathtube.* OnlyFriend: He was Lucy's only childhood friend; she even admits that the time they spent together are the only happy memories she has.* [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary University Student]]: Kouta is just a normal young man with no speciality.* ParentalHypocrisy: [[spoiler: He tells his daughter Nyu to not play in the mountains, despite the fact he used to play in the same mountains with Lucy/Kaede when they were little.]]* PartingWordsRegret: His last words to his little sister Kanae were a threat that he'd "hate her forever" unless she apologized to his friend Lucy, who Kanae had just accused of murdering people at the festival they were at. [[spoiler: sHe then sees her bifurcated in front of him... ''by Lucy herself''.]] He shows clear regret in present times for fighting with her just before she died.* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: When an angry Kouta finds Lucy in the beach near the end, he tosses her his coat.* ThePromise: Lucy and Kouta agree to meet at the stone behind the festival terrain on the last day of the summer festival.* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Kouta or Kohta of Kota.* StarCrossedLovers: The murder of his family at her hands really puts a huge problem for his relationship with Lucy.* SympathyForTheDevil: Though he himself admits he can't condone or forgive Lucy's actions, Kouta just can't bring himself to hate her.* TeamDad: Sometimes referred to as the "Father" of the group, and he acts like it. Despite looking like a typical NiceGuy, he can be surprisingly strict and gruff when he needs to be.* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler:He does not forgive Lucy for killing his family, but he's still conflicted with his feelings for her.]]* TragicKeepsake: The seashell Kanae gave to him on the day of her death.* TraumaInducedAmnesia: A significant part of the plot, as it's [[spoiler:about Lucy killing his father and sister in front of his eyes]].* UnluckyEverydude: ''Very'' unlucky. He is constantly found in [[AccidentalPervert compromising positions with female characters]] by... [[PrettyFreeloaders other female characters]], and is given a lot of flack for this by [[ClingyJealousGirl Yuka]]. Not to mention his entire family ends up being killed because of one white lie.* WouldHitAGirl: Not necessarily brutal, but he has slapped his sister, because he thought she was telling horrible lies, and Nana, who suddenly attacked Nyu, in the face, and he hits Nyu with a slipper because she is going to, er, rape Nozomi.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Yuka]]!!Yuka!!!Voiced by: Creator/MamikoNoto (JP), Creator/NancyNovotny (EN)[[quoteright:225:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Elfen_Lied_Yuka.jpg]]Kouta's cousin, who is around 19 years old and planning to attend the same university as Kouta. She moves in with him at the inn after having not seen him in many years. Having had a crush on Kouta since childhood, she still harbors strong feelings for him, and is openly jealous of Kouta's attention to Nyu, to the point of being irrational.

Despite her brash tendencies, Yuka is geniunely as kind and caring as Kouta. Though she is hesitant and reserved, she is accepting of Kouta's decision to use their inn to shelter those in need.----!!!Tropes associated with Yuka:* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Kouta and Yuka adopt Mayu, despite there only being a 5 year age difference.* AdoptivePeerParent: She and Kouta both adopt Mayu despite the fact that Yuka is only 19 and Mayu is 14.* ArmorPiercingSlap: Yuka gives such a hard one to Kouta early in the anime that in the next scene you can still see her hand imprint on his cheek.* BettyAndVeronica: Betty to Lucy/Nyu's Veronica, since Yuka is not a psychotic murderer.* CaughtInTheRain: See Kouta's entry.* ClingyJealousGirl: In a grating manner as well. People tend to dislike her for this... while forgetting that Lucy can be ''even'' clingier. At least Yuka would NOT try to kill Lucy, whereas Lucy HAS used her vectors to push Yuka down and [[spoiler:started her RoaringRampageOfRevenge because she was jealous of her]].* CoolBigSis: Arguably. She tries, bless her heart, but it doesn't necessarily work.* CrossPoppingVeins: Happens to Yuka twice, once when Kouta was about to mention that her cooking wasn't special, and when his little sister teases her in the flashback.* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Yuka tends to get pretty violent on Kouta several times.* {{Expy}}: Yuka's design looks very similar to characters from Creator/LynnOkamoto's previous works: Sara Wyoming from ''Elfenlied'' and Kasumi from ''Digitopolis'', especially when he [[ArtEvolution redraws]] them. Yuka's design becomes the basis for [[Manga/{{Nononono}} Nono Nonomiya]] and [[Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness Ryouta Murakami]], especially the former looks identical to her. It should be noted that Sara, Kasumi, Nono and Ryouta are all main protagonists of the respective works.* FirstGirlWins: [[spoiler:She is the first girl Kouta met in the story, in both, his backstory, and in the main story. They eventually marry and have a daughter.]]* FirstKiss: With Kouta. In the manga, it's a French kiss.* KissingCousins: She is infatuated with her cousin Kouta. Kouta is also attracted to her, as the temple scene indicates, but then there's Lucy/Nyu muddying things up.* LetsSeeYouDoBetter: During the festival flashback, Yuka is constantly breaking the clay animals at one of the stands. Kouta says that she's terrible at it, so Yuka tells him to do it if he's so awesome at it. Then he does and manages to get the animal shape out of it, and she promises to get better at it.* LoveConfession: When Yuka confesses to Mayu how jealous she gets whenever Kouta pays attention to other girls, Mayu gently asks Yuka if maybe the reason she gets so jealous is that she loves Kouta. Yuka tearfully admits she's right.* LoveMakesYouEvil: To a lesser extent and not extreme.* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:Kouta promises Yuka to never leave her again at the end of the manga. In the DistantFinale, Kouta's daughter resembles Yuka.]]* MiseryPoker: Very much so. She spends so much time fuming over the fact that she can't get close to Kouta when everyone else has [[DysfunctionJunction been to hell and back.]]* MsFanservice: See ReluctantFanserviceGirl below.* OnlySaneWoman: To an extent. She is the only main character without any serious traumatic event in her backstory.* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: Takes up the MsFanservice role rather unwillingly, due to her being a frequent victim of Nyu's [[SkinShipGrope antics]] or getting {{Panty Shot}}s that are seen by Kouta.* StrongFamilyResemblance: [[spoiler:Her daughter, Nyu Jr., looks exactly like Yuka.]]%%* TheSpock: To Kouta's [[TheKirk Kirk]] and Lucy/Nyu's [[TheMcCoy McCoy]].* TeamMom: As the older of the girls, she is sometimes referred as the "mother" of the group in the anime.* {{Tsundere}}: Type B. She's usually a sweet girl, but she can be violent and harsh towards Kouta.* WomanScorned: She gets mad at Kouta for[[TraumaInducedAmnesia not being able to remember a promise due to]] [[spoiler:his sister and father getting violently murdered in front of him about twenty minutes after making said promise in some rather guilt-inducing circumstances]]. Granted, she has no idea that he repressed his memories of that day, and she regrets her earlier reaction once she figures this out, but ''still''.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mayu]]!!Mayu!!!Voiced by: Emiko Hagiwara (JP), Creator/CynthiaMartinez (EN)[[quoteright:225:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Elfen_Lied_Mayu.jpg]]A 14 year old girl, neglected by her mother and a victim of sexual abuse by her stepfather. She eventually runs away and is homeless at the start of the series, living on the beach and subsisting on bread crusts from a local bakery under the pretense that they are for the small puppy, Wanta, that accompanies her. She ends up living with Kouta and Yuka as her legal guardians, and later befriends Nana and tries to take her under her wing.----!!!Tropes associated with Mayu:* AbusiveParents: Her stepfather sexually abused her, and when she told her mother, the latter's reaction was to slap her and express ''jealousy'' of all the "attention" the former gave Mayu. Later, her mom gives up custody of her to Kouta and Yuka without a fight.* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler:She was very nearly raped by the Unknown Man in the manga.]]* BreakTheCutie:** Her AbusiveParents. Yes, nary a cutie escapes unbroken in this series.** There's also when she hears about Lucy, she doesn't believe that the person she knew as Nyu could be a sadistic killer and saves her during her 2nd fight with Bando, after which Lucy tries to kill her.* BrokenBird: The result of the rapes.* CooldownHug: She tries one on Lucy when she and Nana begin to fight at Maple House; Lucy [[SubvertedTrope just pushes her away]].* DoesNotLikeMen: She follows this to a degree; the manga implies that her traumatic experience with her stepfather has soured her on men in general, and finding Kouta in the bath groping Nyu doesn't help. Ironically, [[spoiler:she appears to bond most closely with Bando, who generally treats her like crap, yet saved her from the Unknown Man.]]* [[ABoyAndHisX A Girl And Her Dog]]: She rarely goes anywhere without Wanta. * HappilyAdopted: By Kouta and Yuka. They later track down Mayu's mother, who signs over legal guardianship to them without any complaint (she didn't want Mayu in her life anyway). Afterward Mayu is seen living quite happily with Kouta and Yuka, and says she considers the two of them to be her real family.* InterruptedSuicide: Possibly implied in the anime after running away from home. She was about to walk into the ocean, but stopped after she heard a puppy barking from the beach; she adopts the puppy and names it Wanta.** A stronger possibility than perhaps originally thought. The 2012 Blu-Ray release for the anime includes a manga short set in the anime continuity, a BeachEpisode which reveals that Mayu cannot swim. Also, the manner in which she set her shoes aside before going in may also be indicative. Wanta may have saved her life just by showing up.* LetThemDieHappy: When [[spoiler:Bando lies dying after TakingTheBullet from Lucy for Mayu, he asks what happened to Lucy. Before Nana can tell Bando she got away, Mayu says that Bando's last bullet killed her, so he can die believing he finally got his revenge on Lucy. Subverted when Bando turns out to be alive in the last chapter.]]* NiceGirl: Mayu is very friendly considering her DarkAndTroubledPast.* ParentalAbandonment: Her mother gives not a damn about Mayu being adopted by strangers.* PluckyGirl: Mayu's got bravery to spare when she's pushed to it, as she shows when Bando tries to threaten her into revealing Nyu's location and she has the presence of mind to [[WhatTheHellHero call him out to his face]].* RapeAsBackstory: She was sexually abused by her stepfather.* RapeAsDrama: Mayu is an unfortunate victim of RapeAsBackstory and AttemptedRape.* TheRunaway: A textbook Abused Runaway.* SailorFuku: Wears this as a school uniform after moving in permanently with Kouta and Yuka.* ShrinkingViolet: Moreso in the beginning, due to being homeless and having a traumatic backstory.* TraumaInducedAmnesia: Mayu does this to a lesser extent regarding her witnessing Lucy's brutal dismemberment of Nana.* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Occurs between Mayu and her mother. --> '''Mayu's Mother:''' "Why do you [[RapeAsDrama steal my husband]]?"[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wanta]]!!Wanta

A puppy that Mayu found when she was helpless. He is a lost dog belonging to a woman who named him "James", but he runs away from her to stay with Mayu and lives together with the Maple House citizens.----!!!Tropes associated with Wanta:* AnimalCompanion: He follows Mayu almost everywhere, constantly.* HeroicDog: Both supported and subverted in Mayu's dog Wanta. His loyalty to Mayu (even over a woman who claimed to be his true owner) and the others is stellar. But like his human and otherwise friends, his ability to save them is way limited, and he is nearly killed by the vicious Unknown Man.* PreciousPuppies: He's a little, adorable white puppy and one of Mayu's best friends.* TeamPet: He's the pet of the Maple House citizens.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nana]]!!Nana!!!Voiced by: YukiMatsuoka (JP), Sasha Paysinger (EN)[[quoteright:225:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Elfen_Lied_Nana.jpg]]Also known as [[SevenIsNana Number 7]], she is a young Silpelit (Diclonius born from a human) girl who has the physical appearance of being 14 years old. Most Diclonius babies are euthanized at birth, but Nana was one of a handful kept alive for use as a test subject. As a result she has spent her entire life in the Diclonius research facility. Nana can be seen as the exact opposite of Lucy. While Lucy's default personality is serious and cold, Nana's is fragile, friendly, and kind. Nana's default personality is very similiar to Nyu and she also has an endearingly immature knowledge of the world.

Nana was a stand-out subject among the Diclonius for being able to effortlessly repress her murderous instincts. Accordingly, she has never used her vectors to harm humans (or anything for that matter). Chief Kurama sees her as his daughter and cares very much for her. In the end, [[spoiler: Nana and Kurama are perhaps instead seen as a couple with Nana referring to herself as his 'wife', as she did not wish to be seen any longer as a substitute for Mariko. The concluding chapter leaves off on a cliffhanger as to how Kurama sees this.]]----!!!Tropes associated with Nana:* AdaptationDyeJob: Her hair is purplish-blue in the manga, but is purplish-pink in the anime. Also her eyes were green rather than rose-pink.* AdaptationalWimp: In the anime, she's completely curb-stomped by Mariko. This also happens in the manga, but there Nana fights back and gets even the upper hand. Actually, she ''wins'' and nearly kills her if [[spoiler:Kurama has not appear there]].* AnArmAndALeg: The end result of her fight with Lucy ends with Lucy tearing off all of her arms and legs one by one.* ArtificialLimbs: Realistic ones that respond to her vectors.* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Kurama explicitly told her ''not'' to engage Lucy when he found her, but she chose to do so anyway in an attempt to make him proud. [[AnArmAndALeg It]] [[{{Fingore}} ends]] [[ColdBloodedTorture badly]].* BadassAdorable: Nana is one of the sweetest characters in the series. However when pushed she is more than capable of kicking ass, especially if someone [[BerserkButton threatens Kurama.]]* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reasons for her personality may be because despite her brutal life as a test subject, Kurama treatey her with genuine kindness and concern.* BerserkButton: Threatening to hurt her "papa". * BewareTheNiceOnes: The few times said cutie-persona/psychological-defense-mechanism is broken through. During Nana & Bando's first meeting on a moonlit beach, [[{{Jerkass}} Bando]] pushes her too far and she snaps on him, gaining the same dead look in her eyes that Lucy almost-constantly has and trying to kill him (and coming very close) until a .50-caliber bullet grazing her head knocks her back to her senses. Later in manga Chapter 74, [[spoiler:the Unknown Man threatening Mayu and casually killing [[KillTheCutie Number 28]] right in front of Nana is enough to set her off again. Unfortunately, he blasts her before she can attack, taking her out of the fight]]. * BlondeBrunetteRedhead: In the manga. The brunette to Mariko's blonde and Lucy's readhead.* BreakTheCutie: An extremely clever inversion. It's explicitly stated that her "Cutie" persona is a psychological defense mechanism that she developed as a result of the universe's constant attempts to break her.* CantCatchUp: Despite smarts in battle and ever-increasing savvy, she has a good showing but always gets curbstomped by opponents.* CassandraTruth: Nana knows about Nyu's alternate personality Lucy, but no-one else believes her.* ClothingDamage: See ShamefulStrip.%%* CosmicPlaything* CurbStompBattle: Finds herself at the end of these, most noticeably against Mariko. However in the manga she often ends up returning the favor, often to the person who was just beating the living crap out of her as Mariko can attest.** She also casually beats the [[spoiler:clone of Mariko, Barbara,]] senseless until the latter takes [[spoiler:Kurama]] hostage.* CuteClumsyGirl: Combine with ArtificialLimbs that are quite prone to popping out and, well...** It's much rarer in the manga which mostly consists of her limbs falling off when fighting.* {{Cyborg}}: She gets four prosthetics and they're not as strong as flesh-and-blood limbs, but Nana gets creative with combining their detachable nature and her vectors.* DarkIsNotEvil: She wears black, yet she is the most moral and [[IncorruptiblePurePureness pure]] out of all the characters, especially given the [[EvilVersusEvil morality]] of the series.* DetachmentCombat[=/=]RocketPunch: Prosthetic limbs plus vectors equals [[MundaneMadeAwesome projectile appendages!!!]]* {{Determinator}}: She's on the receiving end of several [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp Battles]], but still gets up for the next one.* DisabilitySuperpower:** See above, plus her prosthesis are naturally ImmuneToBullets (as Bando realized during their brief first fight).** It's rather that Nana doesn't feel the pain inflicted on them, because, well... they're prosthetics.* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: In the manga, where she has purple hair.%%* TheFettered* {{Fingore}}: In the anime, Lucy chops off all of the fingers on her right hand before ripping her right arm off.* FragileSpeedster: Nana's vectors are weaker than Lucy's and Mariko's, but hers are very fast, allowing her to get the upper hand whenever she executes a quick surprise attack.%%* FreudianTrio: TheEgo to Kurama's [[TheSuperego Superego]] and Bando's [[TheId Id]].* [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Friendly Neighborhood Diclonius]]: She even lives with the other protagonists together.* GoodCounterpart: To Lucy. Nana is a peaceful Diclonius who has never killed a person in the entire series.* HandicappedBadass: Having all of her limbs ripped off and replaced with prosthetics doesn't stop her from taking on Bando and winning.* HellishPupils: In the manga, whenever she acts like an evil Diclonius.* HeroAntagonist: To Lucy. While she does work for the Research Containment Facility, she works for [[TokenGoodTeammate Kurama]] and she's got to be the most straight-up heroic character in the series.* ImaginaryFriend: Cruelly subverted. Nana tries to tell the others that CuteMute Nyu has a murderous SuperpoweredEvilSide named Lucy, but they think that it's just this.* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Everything dumped on her only made her sweeter and more heroic, not less.* InterspeciesRomance: [[spoiler:Implied with Kurama at the end of the manga.]]* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Her Kind:]] [[spoiler: Possibly. Her fate isn't made clear at the end, but given her sweet nature and the fact that she never takes a life, she very well could be the last Diclonius following the development of the vaccine.]]* LethalChef: Given that she was raised in a lab, this isn't all too surprising (especially in the OVA: first, she burns some in a pan, then she's too enthusiastic cutting the lettuce, her prosthetic arm comes of and the knife nearly hits Mayu).* MadeOfIron: She takes a bullet to the face from Bando, and all it does is knock her back to her senses and freak her out from the sight of the blood.* MoneyToBurn: A variation; she's so clueless over the concept of money that she uses the yen Kurama left her with for kindling.* MoralityPet: To Chief Kurama. [[spoiler:She is kind of a substitute for his own mutant daughter.]]* MsFanservice: There are TONS of scenes of her naked throughout the series. ** The scene at the end of Episode 11, with Mariko [[FoeYay stripping her completely naked, while disabling her artificial arms and a leg, leaving her a helpless, screaming, crying mess]] while Mariko simply starts giggling innocently, followed by this line: "She's fun!"** In the 13th Episode, she's wearing nothing but Kurama's jacket.* MundaneLuxury: To someone who was raised as a test subject like she was, a simple hot bath is a luxury.* MyNameIsInigoMontoya: Nana invokes this one ''constantly'', usually just after she's been dealt a severe injury in combat, with "This doesn't hurt at all!" Also usually, the trope is ''horrifically'' subverted. Occasionally the reverse occurs, and Nana goes on to triumph in the encounter (albeit, [[RunningGag usually]], temporarily).* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Diclonii are genetically driven to murder, right? Not this one.* NakedOnArrival: Like any other Diclonii, she's introduced completely naked.* NiceGirl: She is kind and sweet to just about everyone. She only ever loses her temper when it comes to Lucy, for [[AnArmAndALeg understandable reasons]].* NoSocialSkills: She knows absolutely nothing about the world outside the complex where she used to live, to the point of burning a "bunch of papers" that turned out to be money. And being gullible enough to believe that the money when kept together would attack her in her sleep.* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown:** Lucy keeps dismembering her limbs even if she's already defeated.** Receives a brutal one from Mariko. In the manga however, Mariko makes the mistakes of [[spoiler: threatening Kurama.]] Nana's response is to [[spoiler:punch her senseless and disable her vectors before threatening to kill her.]]* NoLongerWithUs: Nana just felt like being melodramatic for some reason...* NotSoDifferent: Nana can act like a "normal" Diclonius when the situation calls for it.* OnlyAFleshWound: Subverted in her battle with Lucy; after she gets her leg and fingers chopped off, she insists it doesn't hurt... only to drop the tough girl act and scream in agony when Lucy takes off one of her arms.* ThePollyanna: Admirably and ''heroically''. Under ridiculously brutal circumstances that turned other Diclonii into killers. Choosing not to be one of the series' [[UnstoppableRage unstoppable killing machines]], Nana maintains an unshakable positive outlook, anchored by her belief that everything will be [=OK=] when she can be with papa again.* PowerNullifier: She can use her vectors to temporarily disable other Diclonius's vectors. * RedemptionEqualsLife: If you count simply ''being'' a Diclonius as a state in dire need of redemption, Nana definitely qualifies. She is one of the kindest characters in the series, meaning she ''staunchly'' rejects the inherent, ingrained desire to eradicate all humans. [[spoiler: She never takes a single life throughout both the anime and manga and is amply rewarded by being the ''only'' Diclonius to survive the manga.]]* RocketPunch: Bando lured her on the beach, where she couldn't use anything as a projectile to throw at him. She used her artificial arm. She later uses her arms this way again.* RoseHairedSweetie: Her anime counterpart, as her hair was purple in the manga.* SevenIsNana: Nana is Diclonius subject Number Seven.* ShamefulStrip: Courtesy of Mariko at the end of Episode 11.* SlasherSmile: Even she has these kind of smiles, mostly when she fights other Diclonii and has the upper hand.* ThouShaltNotKill: She's the only Diclonius to have never killed a person, even when she's at her worst.* TokenGoodTeammate: Of the Diclonius research institute in the beginning and also to the entire Diclonius species.* [[TokenHeroicOrc Token Heroic Diclonius]]: Is the only known Diclonius who ''isn't'' a sadistic killer.* TookALevelInBadass: After her defeat by Lucy, Nana becomes better in battles. Often because of her ArtificialLimbs she can throw as projectiles and other quick surprise attacks. Also, in every battle with Mariko and [[spoiler:her clones]], Nana gets the upper hand at least once per battle, depending on the occassion.* TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket: Raised in a lab, and thus, unable to even cut a cabbage with an ordinary knife. When she first meets Mayu, she is completely clueless over the concept of money and uses the yen Kurama left her with for kindling.* TranquilFury: Bando makes the ''exceedingly'' foolish mistake of pushing Nana too far the first time they meet, and she lapses into this: he even gets a flashback of Lucy looking at her like this.* WifeHusbandry: [[spoiler:In the manga, it's implied she and Kurama will get married in the future.]]* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Her hair is purplish-blue in the manga. In the anime, it's purplish-pink.* YoungerThanSheLooks: Silpelits age at about double the rate of normal humans. Nana looks 14 and is really only around seven years old, she also ACTS like her real age too. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Nozomi]]!!Nozomi[[quoteright:225:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Nozomi_Elfen_Lied_3977.jpg]]A 15-17 year old girl who's Yuka's best friend and [[SempaiKohai kohai]], she aspires to become a famous opera singer [[spoiler:like her late mother]]. However, her father does not approve of her dream, due to her being the only heir of his business, [[spoiler:and also because she has a throat defect that will eventually make her lose her voice if she strains it too much]].

Due to Dad's rather... [[AbusiveParents violent]] opposition of her dream, Nozomi developed a psychological trauma that [[BringMyBrownPants makes her wet herself whenever she becomes too nervous]]. Despite this, she tries to get into a music high school, secretly training at the Maple Inn, which Yuka invited her to, during her free time [[spoiler:and moving there permanently after getting accepted]].----!!!Tropes associated with Nozomi:* AbusiveParent: Her father abused her for disobeying him. Though it turns out that he did not want her [[spoiler:to become an opera singer like her mother, who lost her voice and committed suicide, especially since Nozomi has the same throat defect as her mother]].* AdaptedOut: Surprisingly few people are aware of Nozomi's existence. Despite being a main character, she was written out of the anime.* AttemptedRape: PlayedForLaughs. What Nyu does to Nozomi looks like attempted rape, though Nyu is not aware what's going on.* BringMyBrownPants[=/=]PottyFailure: Due to her father's abuse, she's developed a [[BringMyBrownPants bladder control problem]] that causes her to wet herself whenever she gets too nervous. It actually happens to the extent that she has to wear diapers.* CuteMute: [[spoiler:In chapter 83, her throat gets crushed by a soldier, turning her into this until the final chapter.]]* ADayInTheLimelight: She has a special chapter in the manga depicting her past. Arguably the [[LighterAndSofter Lightest and Softest]] chapter in the entire series.* FirstKiss: Stolen by [[LesYay Nyu]]. It's a ForcedKiss.* HimeCut: Is a borderline YamatoNadeshiko.* MissingMom: [[spoiler:Her mother, who was a famous opera singer, commited suicide after losing her voice.]]* PursuingParentalPerils: Nozomi's mother lost her voice from singing due to a vocal cord defect. Nozomi has this same defect and never learns about it. [[spoiler:Except when her father tells about it.]]* TheRunaway: While she didn't really run away in a direct way like Mayu, she still kind of qualifies as an Abused Runaway.* ShrinkingViolet: With damn good reason. She even pees herself on at regular basis.* TitleDrop: Her favorite song is "Elfenlied" and she teaches it Nyu.[[/folder]]

The director of the Diclonius research facility. He is a repulsive, power-hungry man lacking any sense of morality and will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. [[spoiler:He is from a long line of Diclonius ancestry that has been watered down by inter-breeding with humans. As a result, he has no vectors and much smaller horns on his head. The aim of him and his son is, in part, to replenish their bloodline with the Diclonius they are experimenting on (of which Lucy was the first specimen capable of reproducing) and consequently become "kings" of the new race.]]----!!!Tropes associated with Director Kakuzawa:* AllMenAreRapists: A very creepy and disturbing example, as he [[spoiler:found, captured and impregnated Lucy's mother in order to have a Diclonius male heir that he intended to mate with Lucy, the boy's half-sister. Even when the mother manages to kill herself in captivity, he has her dissected and tries to harvest her reproductive organs and materials. To cap it off, when he tells all this to Lucy, he regards these actions as now making them related. Lucy notably and memorably disagrees with this]].* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Lucy kills him, one of the worst characters in the series.]]* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: A villainous ''extreme'': he will kill a subordinate if they decide not to obey.* BadBoss: Putting it lightly.* TheBadGuyWins: Anime only, where he is a KarmaHoudini. And he's laughing like a maniac over his victory. However, the story ends on a CliffHanger [[GeckoEnding of epic proportions]]. Subverted in the manga where he is [[spoiler:killed by Lucy]] and his plans ultimately fall apart. He does however come damn close.* BatmanGambit: Starting immediately after the point where the anime cuts off, Kakuzawa initiates the second part of his plan: [[spoiler:a missile launch with the Diclonius virus that would spread into the Japanese population, and, later, the world; in other words, [[AdultFear the population of Japan would have their future children Diclonius]], ''without them knowing of it'']]. An attempt to actually stop this from happening does not work, and [[ThePlan the gambit]] proceeds as planned. It would have worked if it wasn't for [[spoiler:Arakawa and her knowledge of the Diclonius virus, so it gets foiled later on]]. The rest of the manga is spent attempting to make sure the scenario does not proceed into ''even worse'' territory.* BigBad: The main antagonist of the series. Definitely moreso in the manga.* BlasphemousBoast: "Not even ''God'' can stop me now!"* TheChessmaster: Manga only. Kakuzawa makes numerous plans to achieve his goal, from [[spoiler:Diclonius virus missiles, to his goddess daughter Anna to a male Diclonius.]] Things seem to fall into his very hands and he runs circles around those trying to stop him. If it wasn't for a combination of unforeseen circumstances, most notably [[spoiler:Arakawa's vaccine]], he would have won even after being killed.* ContemplativeBoss: Almost always.* DirtyOldMan: He misuse [[spoiler:Shirakawa]] as his sex slave and is a very creepy rapist. And his youngest son, [[spoiler:he male Diclonius is born to impregnate his half-sister Lucy]]. Yes, this man wants a girl in her late teens to be pregnant as soon as possible.* EquivalentExchange: He believes that Kurama must trade [[spoiler:Mariko's life, which is Kurama's ''daughter'']] for working with him.-->''A human has no more than two hands. To take something, one must drop what one's holding.''* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His daughter, Anna, in the manga. [[spoiler:This is the reason he kept her secretly human.]]* EvilIsHammy: He ''really'' loves to say his plans out loud.* EvilutionaryBiologist: His "diclonius" efforts. Too bad for him that pissing off the crux of his plans (Lucy) slaps him with the TooDumbToLive label.* AGodAmI: His ultimate goal.* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Satisfyingly killed by Lucy in the manga.]]* IdiotBall: [[spoiler: His plans involve making it so that all children except Lucy's are born slipelits, which are sterile, thereby reducing the Earth's population to one breeding pair (Lucy and himself) plus his male Diclonius son, which will almost certainly result in extinction of the Diclonii as well even if Lucy cooperates.]]* KarmaHoudini: In the anime, in addition to barely getting any screen time, [[spoiler: he never faces a bit of danger and is free to gleefully continue his abhorrent research facility.]]* LargeAndInCharge: According to the full-cast shot in the last chapter, he is taller than the rest of the cast by a notable amount.* MachoMasochism: Doctor Nousou has at one point developed a way to control the violent silpelites via brain chips, and, when prompted by Director Kakuzawa, demonstrates their complete obedience by ordering one of them to stab herself in the arm. Kakuzawa's reaction? He pulls his gun and shoots himself in the hand, remarking disappointedly that pain is no guarantee for obedience.* MoleInCharge: He half-heartedly puts up a front of wanting to protect the human race from the diclonii, the stated purpose of the research facility he runs, while really wanting the diclonii to wipe out and replace humans.* OnlyOneName: In contrast to the other Kakuzawas, his first name is not revealed.* TheReveal: During his final confrontation with Lucy, it is made known that [[spoiler: his family were never true Diclonius, merely Humans with a minor genetic mutation who invented legends and eugenic myths to cope with the persecution they faced in medieval times.]] The strife he caused our heroes and the world takes on a whole new light.* SlasherSmile: Pulls off a few. Despite this most of his expressions are actually quite stoic.* StalkerWithATestTube: A rare male example.* TheStoic: More so in the manga. A few hammy speeches and smirks aside, he always remains calm and collect only ever showing the slightest surprise a very few times. * TheUnfettered: His goal is to wipe out the human race, replace it with the Diclonius, and be worshiped by them as their new "[[AGodAmI God]]".* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [[spoiler:His goal is to destroy the human race and produce more Diclonii using Lucy, the only fertile female Diclonus, to replace them. He doesn't want to do this for any moral reason, though, but only so that in 100 or 200 years he can be worshipped as the god of the new species.]]%%* WickedCultured[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dr. Kurama]]!!Kurama!!!Voiced by: Osamu Hosoi (JP), Jay Hickman (EN)[[quoteright:225:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Elfen_Lied_Kurama.jpg]]The chief of research of the Diclonius children in the research containment facility. [[spoiler: He is also the surrogate father of Nana and biological father of Mariko. His wife died from when she tried to stop him from killing their daughter shortly after she gave birth to Mariko.]]

Kurama was initially respected for his stern, no-nonsense attitude and his devotion to his job, in spite of the horrible atrocities that were being carried out. However, recent events cause Kurama's ironclad devotion to waver...----!!!Tropes associated with Kurama:* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Lucy cuts his arm off. It was self-defense.]]* BadassBookworm: A scientist who ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punches Lucy out]]'' without fear for [[AnArmAndALeg what]] [[ColdBloodedTorture she did]] to Nana.* {{Bishonen}}: Kurama is a borderline example, as he's an older man and later grows a BeardOfSorrow. * BeardOfSorrow: In the later chapters of the manga.* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler:One interpretation of the ending of the anime: he actually lasts much longer in the manga. His sanity, however, [[SanitySlippage does not]].]]%%* BrainyBrunette%%* ByronicHero* DeathByAdaptation: He dies in the anime, but [[spoiler:he stays alive in the manga.]]* TheDragon: To Director Kakuzawa in the first half of the manga, as well as in the whole anime.%%* DragonWithAnAgenda%%* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette* {{Expy}}: Kurama looks very similar to the nameless, stoic main character of Creator/LynnOkamoto's ''MOL''. Furthermore, a later one-shot, ''Registrar'', has a villain who looks similar to Kurama.* FondMemoriesThatCouldHaveBeen: [[spoiler: His Diclonus daugther, Mariko. As they ''both'' die (at least in the anime). A definite TearJerker.]]%%* FreudianTrio: TheSuperego to Nana's [[TheEgo Ego]] and Bando's [[TheId Id]].* TheHeavy: Why does Lucy do what she does? [[spoiler:A friend (and [[OnlyFriend her only one]]) took a bullet for her not knowing Lucy could deflect it so Lucy gave herself in to try and save the friend when Kurama offers to help if she comes quietly. Later Kurama flatly informs Lucy the friend died. She now wants to make him suffer.]]** In the anime, [[spoiler: merely informing Lucy her friend died was enough to set her sights on Kurama. In the manga version, Kurama twists the knife by casting aspersions on the girl he killed, and saying that all this was Lucy's fault for not surrendering and the Diclonius' refusal to co-exist with Humans.]] Needless to say, this inverted accusation has no appeal for Lucy, and explains her single-minded hatred all the more.* HeroicBSOD: After shooting Mariko.* IDidWhatIHadToDo: He has this attitude as he executes baby diclonius.* KarmaHoudini: He appears to be one anytime he confronts Lucy. While the latter would kill just about anyone without a second thought, she never attacks him and at one point even pats him on the back with a bloody handprint from one of her vectors. [[spoiler:The reason for this is because when he had Lucy surrounded with a female friend she made after Kouta, one of his men accidentally shoots the girl. Kurama promises he would do everything in his power to make sure she survived if Lucy turned herself in. Since she didn't want to lose yet another friend, she agreed to it. But later Kurama tells her that the girl died from her wound. So Lucy promises to make him suffer the same way he made her suffer, hence why she doesn't kill him, but merely wants to destroy everything around him.]]* LivingEmotionalCrutch: To Nana, who could only withstand all the experiments conducted on her by becoming attached to and wanting to please her "papa".* NecessarilyEvil: Having to sacrifice children and adult women for the sake of saving the human race.* TheNeedsOfTheMany: He's willing to terminate innocent children and not-so-innocent adult women alike, for the sake of saving the human race.* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Him shooting Kouta in Lucy's presence was what caused her to almost [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]] in a callous combination of {{Revenge}} and TakingYouWithMe.* NominalHero: In the anime. And in the manga for a bit by [[spoiler:disowning Nana]].* OffingTheOffspring: Kurama was initially in charge of terminating Diclonus children because he was the only one who could do it with no signs of regret. That is, until, his own daughter Mariko turns out to be one as well...** Zigzags. Ultimately subverted in the anime, [[spoiler:when Kurama dies with Mariko because Mariko explodes rather than him doing anything to her. Eventually played straight-ish in the manga, though Kurama only kills a clone of Mariko and not the real article, with the clone vehemently insisting on not being treated as Mariko.]]* ParentalSubstitute: To Nana. However, at the end of the manga, [[spoiler:Nana and Kurama are regarded more instead as a couple with Nana referring to herself as his 'wife', as Kurama couldn't accept Nana as her daughter after his real daughter's death]].%%* RedOniBlueOni: Blue to Bando's Red.* ScaryShinyGlasses: He's shown with them very often.* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Him and Bando. Though, Kurama is a BadassBookworm on par with Bando's BadassNormal.* SharpDressedMan: He always wears a suit, [[spoiler:except during the time of his HeroicBSOD]].* TheSociopath: It says something that him averting this is an indication EVERYONE ELSE at the research facility WAS one.* TheStarscream: He secretly tries to prevent Director Kakuzawa from becoming the god of Diclonii.* TheStoic: Initially, although [[NotSoStoic less and less as the plot progresses.]]* TheUnfettered: Kurama's goal is to save the human race, even if it involves terminating innocent children and women alike.* VillainousRescue: In the anime, he saves Lucy from a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown by Mariko.* WouldHitAGirl: He slaps Lucy with enough force to knock her off her feet. Given that she had just dismembered Nana, it's justified.* WouldHurtAChild: Considering that he's tasked with euthanizing diclonius newborns.[[/folder]]

Kurama's young, clumsy secretary who works for him for at least five years and admires him. She's killed by Lucy early in the series, just to mess up Kurama.----!!!Tropes associated with Kisaragi:* BulletproofHumanShield: While escaping during the first episode, Lucy decapitates Kisaragi and uses her corpse to block a hail of 9mm bullets.* CuteClumsyGirl: Messily deconstructed. Despite being one of the few characters with any significant dialogue in the first episode, [[spoiler: she gets her head ripped off ten minutes in]].* TheDitz: Brutally deconstructed.* {{Expy}}: In many respects, the she seems like one for ''Manga/LoveHina'' cast member Mutsumi.* [[OffWithHisHead Off With Her Head!]] As courtesy of Lucy.* TooDumbToLive: The moment she saw the devastation that was being caused you would have expected her to realize that a noncombatant like herself should do the smart thing and get to the exit ASAP. [[/folder]]

Kurama's new secretary, who is secretly in love with him.----!!!Tropes associated with Shirakawa:* AllLoveIsUnrequited: To Kurama. In a brutal way.* {{Expy}}: Her appearance strongly resembles Aoki, the heroine of Creator/LynnOkamoto's ''Flip Flap'', his first drawn manga. It's not obvious because of ArtEvolution, but the redrawn picture of her looks very much like Shirakawa.%%* GirlFriday* [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe Half the Woman She Used to Be]]: Lucy rips her in two in the anime.* KilledMidSentence: In the anime.* {{Meganekko}}: Sometimes they become StoicGlasses.* [[OffWithHisHead Off With Her Head!]]: [[spoiler:How Lucy kills her in the manga.]]* ReverseMole: [[spoiler:Preceded the Agent in this regard, sending enough information to her superiors for them to realize the gravitas of the situation and send in the second.]]* SexSlave: In the manga, [[spoiler:she's a SexSlave to Director Kakuzawa to get information from him]].* SexySecretary: To Kurama. Director Kakuzawa even use her as a [[spoiler:sex slave]].* UriahGambit: Sending Mariko in to fight Lucy was her idea. They were counting on Mariko winning, and even if she didn't, it wouldn't be a total loss. The Director accuses her of doing it to destroy parts of Kurama's past life so he'll let it go and move on. Her reasons for doing it are likely a combination of that, risking less human lives, [[spoiler:and trying to divert suspicion from her ReverseMole Status.]]* {{Yandere}}: In the manga, [[spoiler:it was ''her'' idea to implant bombs within Mariko's body, not Kurama, who was unaware of it. The reason? It was a child from ''another'' woman.]] Shirakawa is not even his lover.[[/folder]]

An assistant of Kurama.----!!!Tropes associated with Isobe:* AdaptationalVillainy: Manga Isobe was a troubled individual who tried to see the differences in Diclonius. [[spoiler:His own niceness in fact is what got him killed.]] Anime Isobe not so much and comes off as another typical arrogant human.* AssholeVictim: Anime only, due to AdaptationalVillainy.* EvilMakesYouUgly: Due to AdaptationalVillainy, his entire character design was changed, who looks much less attractive than his average looking counterpart.** Although, the first episode features a man with a brown suit who looks more like the manga-Isobe; apparently the staff of the anime studio changed their mind. It's also possible that they transfered Isobe's role into a new unnamed anime character.* KilledMidSentence: In the anime, when Isobe attempts to shoot Nana, but he is killed by Lucy.-->"You're the only one left. Think of the reward--" (gets decapitated)* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:Tries to save Mariko from blowing up when he thinks she's had a change of heart. She plays with his emotions and after getting what she needs, callously beheads him.]]* NoNameGiven: In the anime. The manga reveals his name after he died.* OffWithHisHead: How Lucy (Anime) and Mariko (Manga) kill him.[[/folder]]

A son[[note]]there are at least two[[/note]] of Director Kakuzawa and a collegue of Kurama. He has the same goal as his father.----!!!Tropes associated with Yuu Kakuzawa:* AllMenAreRapists: To impregnate Lucy, he needs to rape.* AntagonisticOffspring: To his father. He wants to become god himself like Director Kakuzawa.* AttemptedRape: On Lucy. [[spoiler:He failed.]]* AssholeVictim:** Nobody shed a tear for him, when Lucy took his head off, since he wanted to rape Lucy to father Diclonii and try to bring about the end of the human race.** Lampshaded by Lucy herself when she says after murdering him, "Waiting for that? Because it's all you deserve."* BaldOfEvil: [[spoiler:Is actually a diclonius with horns on his head, and wears a wig to cover it. But even after revealing that to Lucy, she still kills him nonetheless for trying to rape her.]]* DevilInDisguise: Literally and metaphorically: [[spoiler:His horns are hidden under a wig and nobody knows of his plans to destroy humanity.]]* AGodAmI: Wants to be this like his father does.* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Lucy kills him when he's basically telling her that he's going to rape her and wants to create new race.* KilledMidSentence:-->'''Kakuzawa''': "Lucy, it's different for you. You're the pure one that I've been--" (cue [[OffWithHisHead decapitation]])* MadScientist: He wants to destroy humanity because ForTheScience.* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:How Lucy kills him.]]* TheStarscream: To his father, wanting to rule the Diclonius race in his own name. He fails.[[/folder]]

A researcher working alongside Professor Yuu Kakuzawa to find a vaccine for the Diclonius virus. She, along with Kouta, ends up seeing [[spoiler:Professor Kakuzawa's mutilated body. She reports to Chief Kakuzawa what she's seen, but he doesn't intend to let her off scot-free, and threatens her with death lest she take up the rest of Professor Kakuzawa's research]].

In the anime, she's basically only there for comic relief, but in the manga, she plays an extremely important role as the story progresses on.----!!!Tropes associated with Arakawa:* ActionSurvivor: At the end of the manga, she survives the riot of the [[spoiler:clone Silpelits]].* ChekhovsGunman: Manga only. [[spoiler:She ends up finally creating the Diclonius vaccine.]]* DeadpanSnarker: Again, manga only.* {{Expy}}: She bears a striking resemblance to [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh Yomi Mizuhara]].* GirlishPigtails: She wore two braids in her middle school life. The boys view her as unfeminine and ugly, though.* HotScientist: She actually looks pretty good. She has a lot of {{Panty Shot}}s and later goes only with a shirt and panties.* IdenticalStranger: A weakend [[spoiler:Diana]] mistakes Arakawa for Nousou, probably because of their similar hair style. This actually saves her life and allows her to command [[spoiler:Diana]].%%* LittleMissSnarker* MadScientist: Arakawa starts out as only slightly eccentric when she has to take over his work. Being practically locked in in a basement room on a small remote island and working alone for weeks really tooks it's toll from her.* {{Meganekko}}/SmartPeopleWearGlasses: She's a scientist who wears glasses since her adolescence.* NerdsAreSexy: Avered in her backstory, as she was considered ugly by the boys.* PluckyComicRelief: In the anime, and ''early'' manga. * RunningGag:-->"I'm ''never'' going to get to take a shower!"* ScienceHero: [[spoiler:Near the end, she saves the world by developing the diclonius vaccine.]]* SeriouslyScruffy: See RunningGag above. Also why she strips down as mentioned above under HotScientist.[[/folder]]

A young researcher who is Mariko's foster mother and communicates with her per speaker and monitors. She claims to love Mariko like she's her real child, but Saito is brutally murdered by her, though she manages to blow one of Mariko's arms off.----!!!Tropes associated with Saito:* BewareTheNiceOnes: She seems to be a sweet and nice woman. But in the verge of death, she pushes one of Mariko's bomb buttons.* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Her death is more graphic in the anime, when her torso explodes and her organs and bones are flying everywhere.* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Despite losing the lower half of her body, Saito manages to push the bomb button and blows Mariko's right arm off, just before she dies.* GirlishPigtails: She wears two braids that gives her a girlish vibe.* GoodParents: Played with. She's introduced as a potential first good parent in the series, but when Mariko decapitates her, Saito blows Mariko's right arm off, showing that she didn't love Mariko that much.** Averted later in the manga, when Kurama's assistant Isobe learns that Saito manipulated Mariko with the lie that neither birth parent wanted her, when her mother definitely did, and her father made a devil's deal to keep her alive.* GrievousHarmWithABody: Mariko throws her torso at the person who is about to push the button. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard This becomes unfortunate for Mariko.]]* [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe Half the Woman She Used to Be]]: How she is killed by Mariko.* NotQuiteDead: She stays alive for a few seconds when Mariko decapitated her and pushes Mariko's bomb button.* ParentalSubstitute: To Mariko, who does not care for having a foster mother.* WeHardlyKnewYe: She's killed very quickly after her introduction.* [[YouAreNotMyFather You Are Not My Mother]]: Mariko says this right before killing her.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anna Kakuzawa]]!!Anna Kakuzawa

The daughter of Director Kakuzawa, who is turned into a "goddess" with precognition powers.----!!!Tropes associated with Anna Kakuzawa:* AntiVillain: The "Villain in Name Only" variant. If it wasn't for her father, Anna would probably be one of the sweetest characters in the manga.* BlackSheep: The only member of the family who has a low intellect and no talents. Her human form only.* EldritchAbomination: A massively engorge brain several tons and capable of predicting the future. Ironically more Eldritch than Abomination and ultimately she [[spoiler:returns to her normal form at the end of the manga.]]* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She is this to Director Kakuzawa and vise versa. In fact the reason she helps her father is out of love and a desire to be useful to him.* EvilGenius: Subverted. While a genius in her goddess state, Anna can hardly be described as evil (At least not in comparison to her father or some of the other questionable people) and only wishes to help her father out of a need to support him and prove herself. Ironically this was subverted entirely in her human form where she is neither evil nor a genius.* GenkiGirl: Her human form.* IJustWantToBeLoved: The Stroge and Agape variants. She goes through some horrific experiences because she wants to be useful and appreciated by her father. * NakedOnArrival: Inverted. She's naked in her last appearance.* PhysicalGod: What her father claims.* RedemptionEqualsLife: Played with, in the end Anna does nothing to actually redeem herself. However at the same time out of all the antagonists she is perhaps the least evil and thus remains he only Kakuzawa to survive the end of the manga.* {{Seers}}: Her goddess form has precognition powers. Actually it's just very complicated and long math.* TomTheDarkLord: A very horrifying EldritchAbomination goddess with the name Anna.* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:She somehow returns into her human form after Lucy destroyed her goddess form. Though, there is an implication that her father had something to do with it.]]* WhiteSheep: The only kind person in her family.[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Unknown Man]]!!The Unknown Man

A minor manga-only character, a man clad in a black trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat, with opaque sunglasses and greasy-looking hair. At first appears relatively civil, he soon reveals his true colors as one of most horrifically evil bastards, if not ''the'' most evil, in the entire series. A brutal, heartless, [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Hidan]]-level sadist, rapist, and all-around not very nice man, he delights in causing pain and suffering, especially in Diclonius and/or teenage girls.----!!!Tropes associated with the Unknown Man:* AbnormalAmmo: Let's just say that heavy spiked balls coated in potent toxins isn't exactly what you'd expect a ''crossbow'' to fire.* AgonyBeam: A low-tech variation, in the form of a crossbow that fires spiked metal spheres coated in a toxin that causes horrible, cripplingly agonizing pain to those it hits. [[spoiler:Bites him in the ass - literally - during his fight with Bando.]]* AllMenAreRapists: He rapes Number 28 before [[spoiler:amputating her lower body half]] and [[AttemptedRape tries to rape]] Mayu.* AttemptedRape: He tries to rape Mayu. Bando stops him.* AxCrazy: Perhaps the craziest. And considering the likes of Bando and Lucy, that's saying something!* BadassLongcoat: He wears a dark long coat, similar to [[Manga/{{Hellsing}} Alucard]].* DirtyCoward: He gleefully tortures and rapes defenseless Diclonii and normal children, but runs away when he confronts [[BadassNormal Bando]].* EvilerThanThou: Definitely worse than [[PsychoForHire Bando]] and/or [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Lucy]], and arguably worse than even Kakuzawa Sr.* {{Expy}}:** Basically the most repulsive parts of [[{{Hellsing}} Alucard]] and [[StephenKing Randall Flagg]] rolled into one humanoid mass; combining the looks and personality (Minus the DirtyCoward part) of Alucard and the sheer wickedness and depravity from Randall Flag. ** Judging by his brief appearance, high memorability, and specialized weapons within the series, he could also be an {{Expy}} to [[StarWars Boba Fett]], whose screen time in the first trilogy totaled all of ten minutes. Fett, though, is usually shown to have a [[EvenEvilHasStandards deep sense of honor and morals]], something Unknown Man obviously has no traces of at all.* KarmicDeath[=/=]HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:During Lucy and Bando's showdown, he tries to save Lucy from Bando, and she responds by [[ItMakesSenseInContext popping off his head]] and [[BlackComedy throwing it at Bando]] since there was nothing else around for her to throw.]]* LaserGuidedKarma: Shortly after he tries to rape Mayu, Bando [[BigDamnHeroes comes in and kicks his ass.]] [[spoiler: He's later decapitated by Lucy in a rather unceremonious manner.]]* LennonSpecs: He wears these.* NiceHat: In tune with his "Alucard wanna-be" appereance.* NoNameGiven: This arguably just makes him worse.%%* OffWithHisHead* PsychoForHire: Less [[LargeHam Hammy]] than Bando, but ''much'' more sadistic.* RapeAsDrama:** Does this to Number 28, and tries (and comes terrifyingly close) to do it to Mayu (And probably would've done the same to Nana).** It's also implied that he was allowed to rape many more Silpelits by the staff of the facility.%%* TheSociopath* SinisterShades: His sunglasses make him look like [[ByronicHero Alucard]].* SunglassesAtNight: Like Bando and The Agent.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dr. Nousou]]!!NousouThe head scientist of Chief Kakuzawa after Kurama's departure.----!!!Tropes associated with Nousou:* {{Bishonen}}: Just ''look'' at his face!* CloningBlues: [[spoiler:He cloned Mariko.]]* DissonantSerenity: He performs brutally horrific experiments on Diclonii while having a calm expression all the time.* DudeLooksLikeALady: He looks very feminine.* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He really loves Alicia, Barbara, Cynthia and Diana. [[spoiler:He's ultimately killed by Barbara when he removed the mind-control device of her.]]* GenderFlip: His appearance looks very similar to Arakawa. He has a similar hair style like her, just having light hair and mirrored bangs. This becomes a plot point, when Diana mistakes Arakawa for him.* HeelFaceDoorSlam: He tries to redeem himself. Doesn't work out well.* HeelRealization: Feels regret over his tortuous experiments after realizing [[spoiler:he loved the clones of Mariko he created as if they were his daughters.]]* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:After removing the mind-control device of Barbara, in hope that she really loves him as a father, she beheads for all the experiments he did to her numerous failed sisters.]]* MadScientist: ''Oh so much...''%%* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:Releasing Barbara from his control]] might have been the ''right'' thing to do, but it definitely wasn't the ''smart'' thing.* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:After he realizes, that his experiments were insanely fucking evil, he frees Barbara from his control and the first thing she does is [[OffWithHisHead taking off the head of some nurse she comes across and than his]].]]%%* StepfordSmiler* ThatsAnOrder: He orders Alicia and Barbara to let him die so they would survive and could capture Lucy. They refuse to do so. [[spoiler:While Alicia dies, Barbara manages to save him, and Lucy is captured thanks to Cynthia and the Agent.]]* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Seen with something that [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial does not]] [[LawyerFriendlyCameo look like]] Pocky.%%* WhiteHairBlackHeart[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Agent]]!!The AgentAn ambiguously looking operative that goes alongside Nousou at the assault of Maple Inn. Is the one that knocks Lucy out and brings her back to the facility.----!!!Tropes associated with the Agent:* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:She really is trying to save the world. She'll willingly sacrifice innocent lives if it means getting her job done, though.]]%%* {{Badass}}: Oh yes.* BadassNormal: The only person to defeat Lucy. Even though it was a cheap shot.* {{Bifauxnen}}: [[spoiler:The Agent was confused for a man for almost all of her appearances, but was revealed as female at the very end, where her shirt rips, and reveals her cleavage.]]* CombatPragmatist: Ruthless, but not sadistic. Will use ''any'' means to win.%%* CoolShades* CryCute: [[spoiler:She cries before the Diclonii seemingly kills her and she says she does not want to die.]]* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:She's surrounded by Diclonii, and the view point shows a GoryDiscretionShot, but she shows up later, no worse for wear, because the ground had given way and she fell into an underground cavern.]]* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: She recognizes that removing the mind-control device from the clones leads to dangerous things (See Nousou's entry). So when Arakawa does it, she quickly put it back in right before the clone went all AxCrazy]]* HiddenDepths: Introduced as a replacement for the former hunters (the aforementioned Bando, and the Unknown Man), and at first acts as a quieter and less sadistic hunter. Eventually [[spoiler: she's revealed to be a government agent sent to shut the facility down, she's also quite the {{Determinator}}, and shows she's willing to die if it helps to save humanity.]]%%* IceQueen* NotSoStoic: [[spoiler:Stays behind to face certain death so Arakawa can escape with the Diclonius vaccine. Starts crying as soon as Arakawa is gone.]]* ShootTheDog: When the security forces break into Kouta's house, they quickly, and violently subdue the occupants, with The Agent Pistol Whipping Kouta to prevent him from interfering, and warning him not to try anything. When Nozomi has her throat crushed, Kouta grabs a gun and threatens Nousou, the Agent casually shoots him in the chest. The shooting was necessary to both save Nousou from disfigurement and possible death [[spoiler: and to allow her to complete her mission, to save the world from the Diclonius faster, and without raising suspicion.]]* SunglassesAtNight: Just like the rest of the 'Hunters'.* ReverseMole: [[spoiler:Works for the Japanese goverment. Sent to Kakuzawa as a spy.]]* TheStoic: The Agent is a very serious person and shows few emotions.* TokenGoodTeammate: See ReverseMole above.[[/folder]]

Also known as Number 35, she is a young Silpelit girl [[spoiler:who is the biological daughter of Kurama]]. She is regarded as the most powerful of the Silpelits, possessing 36 vectors each with an approximate range of 11 meters in the anime (the number and range is much higher in the manga).

After her mother's DeathByChildbirth Mariko was imprisoned as an infant and raised inside a steel container with human contact consisting of nothing more than a scientist acting as a sort of foster mother Saito through speakers and monitors. Her physical impairment is seen in her atrophied limbs as she moves around in a wheelchair. Despite the environment she was raised in, she is relatively well developed psychologically (for a given degree of "psychologically"), unlike Nana. She is extremely homicidal and sadistic, and enjoys torturing and dismembering her victims. However, her personality is not blatantly evil: she is only having fun, and the pleasure she gets from it is equivalent to a child playing with toys, not really noticing the differences. ----!!!Tropes associated with Mariko:* AdaptationDyeJob: Played with. Due to weird lighting, she seems to be blonde in the anime for most of her early appearance, but outside the funky sunset light ([[FridgeLogic which would need to contain an enormous amount of dust to have that effect, by the way]]) she's got the classic Diclonius pink hair.* AlasPoorVillain: Regardless of how you feel about her, it's hard ''not'' to pity Mariko as she's breaking down in tears in front of Kurama.* AnArmAndALeg: Her right arm gets blown off by one of the many bombs implanted in her body.** ArtificialLimbs: She gets a prosthetic arm in the anime before being sent out to hunt Nana down.* AxCrazy: Extreme emphasis on '''crazy'''.* BlankSlate: [[spoiler:In the manga, after being flattened by a huge-ass missile, Mariko temporarily takes on a Nyu-esque persona, even down to only being able to say "Myu". She snaps back to normal when Lucy shows up.]]* BlondesAreEvil: She's blonde in the manga. ** BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The blonde to Nana's brunette and Lucy's redhead.* CallingTheOldManOut: [[spoiler:In a rather [[TearJerker emotional]] scene, she berates Dr. Kurama for treating [[MoralityPet Nana]] as his daughter while allowing Mariko herself to be imprisoned in a dark and lonely room with almost zero human contact for her entire life.]]* CloningBlues: [[spoiler:Only in the manga. Has a terrifying effect on an already beyond-broken Kurama.]]* CreepyChild: She's the most dangerous of the Silpelits with an extra helping of AxCrazy, who sees killing as ''a game.'' She's also about five years old.* CryCute: When she meets her father.* CurbstompBattle:** In the anime, she utterly ''dominates'' Lucy. [[spoiler:In the manga? [[AvertedTrope Not so much]]...]]** She actually easily takes care of Lucy in the manga as well and its only thanks to the cell phone timing Mariko's bombs and getting her off guard that Lucy is able to get the advantage.* CuteIsEvil: Compared to the other characters, her design pretty much screams {{moe}}, and yet she is a psychotic maniac.* EnfanteTerrible: Emphasis on the ''terrible.''* EvilCripple: She has spent most of her life in isolation and has extreme atrophy in her legs, so she has to get around in wheelchair. * ExplosiveLeash: Taken to an extreme. She has multiple bombs planted in her body set to go off every 30 minutes if a specific code does not get constantly transmitted. It was set off once when she started going out of control, and was also used to keep her under control, since she couldn't use her vectors if she was in that much pain.* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Mariko looks like an innocent, cute girl, but she's an AxCrazy Silpelit. This is even invoked by her in the manga, when she tries [[spoiler:to get the code from Isobe]].* FauxAffablyEvil: She tries to get sympathy from adults and later kills them.* FreudianExcuse: The reason why she became evil is because she's captured in a dark cage since her birth and is left alone by her own parents.* GoOutWithASmile: In the anime, as Kurama takes her for a walk, they tearfully reunite with him promising never to let her go again. [[spoiler:The bombs inside of her go off shortly afterwards, killing both of them.]]* GreenEyedMonster: Manga only and literally.* HairDecorations: Wears two cute little ribbons in her hair to hide her horns.* HandicappedBadass: Being wheelchair-bound and having only one (real) arm doesn't stop her from curb-stomping Lucy.* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:In the manga, she charges a now-quite-unhinged Lucy and gets right next to her, allowing herself to be killed just in time for the explosives implanted in her to go off. The explosion knocks Lucy's horns off and causes her to regress to Nyu, thus saving Dr. Kurama from Lucy.]]* HimeCut: Mariko wears a lolita style and also seems to have this hair naturally. Apparently, this becomes the basis for [[Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness Kana Tachibana's]] design, who is an ElegantGothicLolita and is portrayed with Mariko's outfit on her character card.* [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist By Her Own Petard]]: She throws Saito's torso at the person who is about to push the bomb button. Unfortunately, Saito is still alive at this moment and pushes the button herself, resulting Mariko's loss of her right arm.* ImprobableAge: ''5 years old''. And the strongest Silpelit.* KidsAreCruel: Mariko is this to a certain extent, as her ruthless killing is more or less the Diclonius equivalent of burning ants with a magnifying glass (at least the way she treats it). Of course, [[InnocentlyInsensitive she wasn't really raised to know any better...]]* LackOfEmpathy: She's basically a borderline {{Sociopath}}.* LightIsNotGood: Compared to [[DarkIsEvil Lucy]] and [[DarkIsNotEvil Nana]], Mariko has light hair and wears light clothing, and is ''enormously'' [[AxCrazy insane]].* LittleMissBadass: The strongest Silpelit is also the smallest and youngest.* LoveMakesYouEvil: A lesser extent than Lucy, but most definitely present.* NakedOnArrival: Like any other Diclonii, she's introduced completely naked, but had a helmet.* ObliviouslyEvil: Maybe.* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:In the manga, she does her best to protect her father to be killed.]]* {{Sadist}}: Oh, dear...* SlasherSmile: Like any other evil Diclonius.* StepfordSmiler: An extreme Type C example.* TheSouthpaw: Due to her loss of her right arm, she's this. Judging that [[spoiler:her clones are right-handed]], Mariko is not naturally left-handed to begin with.* TooPowerfulToLive: Hence the ExplosiveLeash.* VerbalTic: [[spoiler:When suffering temporary amnesia, the only thing she says is "Myu".]]* WorldsStrongestMan: She is the strongest Silpelit in existence.* {{Yandere}}: Though not as bad as Lucy, she still beats the tar out of Nana in a fit of jealousy upon hearing her call Kurama "Papa".* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: She has pink hair in the anime.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Number 28]]!!Number 28A relatively minor manga-only character, 28 is mainly known for the nauseatingly horrific fate she suffers at the hands of the Unknown Man.----!!!Tropes associated with Number 28:* AndIMustScream[=/=]FateWorseThanDeath[=/=]CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:After suffering as a lab rat in the research facility all her life, she is raped by the Unknown Man, has everything below her torso amputated and her vocal chords removed, is trapped in a cramped container, which regularly injects a neurotoxic drug directly into her spine which keeps her in constant agony so that she can't use her vectors, and she only has 3 more hours to live. All so that the Unknown Man could use her as a radar to find Lucy. When he finds Nana instead, he kicks over her container in anger, which finally kills the poor girl. Earlier, when Nana had sensed her presence, she kept hearing a voice crying out, begging for someone to kill her.]] Sweet mother of God...* [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe Half the Girl She Used to Be]]: [[spoiler:Everthing below torso amputated so she becomes portable in a bag.]]* NakedOnArrival: Like any other Diclonii, she's introduced completely naked.* NoNameGiven: We only know that she's called "[[YouAreNumberSix Number 28]]".* PeopleJars: Is carried within a container by the unknown man, only in a much worse fashion.* RapeAsDrama: Courtesy of the Unknown Man.* TheVoiceless: She doesn't get any spoken lines before the Unknown Man first gets his hands on her, [[spoiler:and afterward she can't speak because the bastard ''ripped her vocal chords out''.]][[/folder]]

The four are the only successful clones of Mariko, created by Doctor Nousou, but they are physically older than their original. Each of them have a mind-control device inside their forehead that prevents them from going amok and makes them peaceful. Nousou has perfect control of them and they listen only to him, but sometimes they do not if they try to save his life. The clones are used to capture Lucy.----!!!Tropes associated with them:* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: Their names start with a letter from A to D: '''A'''licia, '''B'''arbara, '''C'''ynthia and '''D'''iana. Furthermore, their names end with an A.* AntiVillain: Due to the mind-control devices, their evilness is surpressed and they are sweet girls who are working for the villains. [[spoiler:Barbara subverts this later, and Diana for a few seconds.]]* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Lucy throws stones to torture Alicia, dismembering her [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an arm and a leg]]. Then, Lucy beheads her.]]* BadassAdorable: They are Mariko's clones after all, the strongest Silpelit.* BadassArmFold: Barbara does this a few times after [[spoiler:she's out of control]].* BerserkerTears: [[spoiler:Barbara cries for her dead failed clone sisters when she kills Nousou.]]* BlondesAreEvil: This is their true nature.* CatSuit: What Alicia, Barbara and Cynthia wear during the mission.* ChekhovsGunman: Diana is demoted to stay back because of her GameBreakingInjury. She shows up later, when Arakawa is in danger.* CloningBlues: They are clones of Mariko. This has a terrifying effect on an already beyond-broken Kurama when he finds Cynthia, [[spoiler:who dies in his arms]], and Barbara, who claims not to be Mariko.** Also subverted, due to the [[MindControlDevice Mind-Control Deviced]] they appear rather cheerful. When the MindControl is off, they [[KillAllHumans they still aren't sobbing wrecks]].* CoolHelmet: Each of them wear helmets similar to Lucy's, but the number of eye holes depends on the one who wears it. Alicia has one on both sides, Barbara has two, Cynthia has three, and Diana has four.* CryCute: Diana cries after stabbing on her arm. Cynthia cries when she's [[spoiler:ripped apart by Lucy]], and Barbara and Alicia cry because of that event and later when they try to save Nousou.* DefusingTheTykebomb: After his near death experience, Nousou considers whether the girls could live a normal life or not.* {{Determinator}}: Alicia and Barbara do not give up to save Nousou, regardless of the pain the have to feel or the danger they in there.* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:Cynthia dies in Kurama's arms, who mistakes her for Mariko.]] Coincidently, it is night when it happens.* DoesNotLikeShoes: For some reason, Barbara does not wear shoes when she's in hospital with Nousou, resulting that she goes (and "flies") barefooted after she leaves it.* ExpendableClone: Ordering a Diana to stab herself in the heart to prove a point isn't the worst thing done.* GameBreakingInjury: Nousou orders Diana to stab into her heart. She gets better, thanks to a replacement heart, but this injury makes her useless for the mission to capture Lucy, that's why she stays in the labor. This is fortunate for Arakawa, who is later saved by her.* GoOutWithASmile:** [[spoiler:Barbara, when Kurma shoots her in the head.]]** [[spoiler:Diana smiles at Arakawa before she's suddenly beheaded by a random clone Silpelit. Unlike Barbara, Diana does not realize her death and does not see it coming.]]* [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe Half The Little Girl She Used To Be]]: [[spoiler:Cynthia is cut in half by Lucy. Not only reminds this Kouta of Kanae's death and brings his memories back, it does not kill her instantly.]]* HandicappedBadass:** [[spoiler:Cynthia manages to break one of Lucy's horns, despite being cut in half.]]** A weakened Diana manages to kill several [[spoiler:other Silpelits before being killed herself]].* HeroicSacrifice: Alicia and Barbara disobey Nousou's order to capture Lucy or run away, but they decide to save him from being crushed by a helicopter. Lucy uses the opportunity to attack them with objects, since she is out of their range. [[spoiler:Alicia gets killed by her, and Barbara still disobey Nousou and jumps in front of him to tear the helicopter above him apart, since the clones' vector's ends are weaker.]]* HimeCut: Like Mariko, they have this kind of hair cut. Their fringes also hide the mind-control devices in their foreheads.* HopeSpot: Diana becomes one for Arakawa and the Agent. [[spoiler:But not for long.]]* InTheBack:** Lucy keeps attacking Alicia and Barbara from behind, who are trying to save Nousou from being crushed by a helicopter. [[spoiler:This ultimately kills Alicia.]]** [[spoiler:Barbara is shot in the head by Kurama from behind. He comments that she probably noticed his gun and he wonders why she didn't dodge or something.]]* KilledOffForReal: All four of them die during the course of the story, but under different circumstances. [[spoiler:Cynthia is cut in half and dies a few minutes later after that. Alicia is beheaded by Lucy before Cynthia finally dies. Barbara is shot in the head by Kurama. And Diana is beheaded by one of the random clone Silpelits.]]* MadeOfIron: They are specially modified for being able to use their vectors regardless how much pain they feel.* MindControlDevice: They have these in their foreheads, that prevent them from being evil. They are under Nousou's control.* NakedOnArrival: When they are introduced, they wear nothing but helmets.* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Cynthia is not immediately killed after being in cut in half by Lucy. With the help of the Agent, she is able to break one of Lucy's horns. Unfortunately, Kurama finds Cynthia, mistaking her for Mariko, and she dies in his arms.]]* NotQuiteFlight: Barbara uses her vectors to move her in the air like she could fly. Combined with BadassArmFold, it looks cool.* [[OffWithHisHead Off With Her Head]]: [[spoiler:Lucy beheads Alicia with a stone monument. Diana gets beheaded by one of the random clone Silpelits]].* OpeningACanOfClones: Never remove the mind-control devices!* OurClonesAreIdentical: They all look identical with each other. In comparison to Mariko, they look older.* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Implied with Barbara, who might chose to be killed by Kurama.]]* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler:Cynthia becomes this to Kurama, despite it's only her upper half of her body. And even when she's dead. Kurama gets the same reaction when he meets Barbara.]]* SendInTheClones: They are sent to capture Lucy.* SiblingTeam: They are created to capture Lucy. But because of Diana's GameBreakingInjury, the team consists only of the three when they mission starts.* [[SingleMindedTwins Single-Minded Quadruplets]]: They all have the same personality.* SlasherSmile: [[spoiler:Barbara and Diana when they are out of control.]]* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler:Barbara does not forgive Nousou for his experiments on the failed clones, whom she considers as sisters. Even when he apologizes for this.]]* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Like Nousou, they like pocky.* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: ** [[spoiler:Nousou removes Barbara's mind-control device to find out if she's really not an evil monster and does love. He's wrong and this costs his life.]]** [[spoiler:Arakawa does the same to Diana, though Arakawa is not aware of the purpose of those devices. Fortunately, the Agent puts them back into Diana's forehead before anything could happen.]]* {{Tykebomb}}: They are the research's "weapons" that are barely treated as people. Initially.* UndyingLoyalty:** Diana stabs herself into her heart with knive to prove how loyal the four are to Nousou.** Alicia and Barbara disobeyed Nousou's orders to save his life, even at the cost of their own. Later, Nousou tests if it's really the girls that saved him or the mind-control devices. [[spoiler:It's the latter.]]* VerbalTic: Under mind-control, the only thing they can say is "Myu" (and "Papa"), just like Mariko under her temporary amnesia.* WalkingSpoiler: They are Mariko's clones. Of course that's a spoiler.* YoungerThanTheyLook: They are only a few months old at most, but they look physically older than Mariko, being in their puberty. Since Silpelits age double as fast as humans, and clones of in general age faster than their originals, this combination justifies this trope.[[/folder]]

[[folder:'''WARNING: Major Spoilers''']]!!The Male Diclonius

The only male Diclonius and the second one who is not a Silpelit. He's the son of Director Kakuzawa and Lucy's mother, being Lucy's half-brother, who is specially born for impregnating her. He also has a mind-control device in his forehead and is controlled by his father.----!!!Tropes associated with the male Diclonius:* BrotherSisterIncest: He's born to ''impregnate'' his sister, so the pure Diclonii race won't extinguish, and Director Kakuzawa becoming god.* ChildByRape: Director Kakuzawa found, kidnapped, and raped Lucy's mother, so he can impregnate her. He meant the boy to be the first of many, but the mother killed herself, and efforts to harvest her unique womb failed.* DeathByChildBirth: His birth killed his mother. This is not surprising, since she was [[{{Pun}} half-dead]] to begin with.* LongLostSibling: To his half-sister Lucy. This is justified, since Lucy was abandoned as a baby and he's born much later.* [[LukeIAmYourFather Lucy, This Is Your Brother]]: How Director Kakuzawa introduces the male Diclonius to Lucy.* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Lucy kills him together with his father, who controlled him and created him for a single purpose. She feels sorry for him.]]* MindControlDevice: Like the Mariko clones, he has a mind-control device in his forhead that prevents him from being evil. He's under Director Kakuzawa's control.* NakedOnArrival: Averted. Probably because he's not a [[MsFanservice girl]].* NoNameGiven: Makes you wonder if his father even bothered to give him a name.** Depending on how you interpret the text in that chapter, and the Adam & Eve symbolism, Kakuzawa may have named his son Adam.* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:How Lucy kills him.]]* TheOneGuy: The only male Diclonius.* WalkingSpoiler: A male Diclonius? Lucy's brother? The circumstances of his birth? His purpose? That's all a spoiler, right?* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:Is killed in the same chapter where he's introduced. And that's only a couple of pages.]][[/folder]]

An operative for the National Police Agency's Special Assault Team. Although he is technically human, he is as homicidal and apathetic to other people as the worst Diclonius are. He is incredibly skilled in combat and widely-regarded as a lethal and bloodthirsty soldier. ----!!!Tropes associated with Bando:* AdaptationalVillainy : While a JerkAss, Bando in the manga was a badass with redeeming qualities to him and character development. The Anime decided to get rid of anything that could make Bando likable while adding more things to hate. The end result was a character who at his best was still worse than Manga Bando at his worst.* AntiHero: Though unlike Kurama, he kills mostly ForTheEvulz, or {{Revenge}}.* AntiVillain: The Noble Variant in the manga after his character development. He's also kinda this in the anime, though arguably not as much as in the manga.* ArtificialLimbs: After his skirmish with Lucy, who wouldn't?* AxCrazy: Not only he is a self-admitted PsychoForHire, and not only he refuses to personally kill Nyu who can't defend herself, because [[BloodKnight he can't be arsed to do something so ''boring'']], at the beginning, he will smash your face if you as much as try approaching him from the back, even if you are a harmless woman. Though, only at first. He gets notably less crazy later in the manga as a part of his CharacterDevelopment.* BadAss: Easily one of the most badass characters in the series. [[spoiler: At least in the manga.]]* BadassBoast: Offers some subtle but still cool lines in the manga and backs up every single one.-->"What are you surprised about stupid? Didn't I tell you that I can never die?" [[spoiler: After coming back at the final chapter of the manga after being cut in half by Lucy.]]-->"You dumbass! Me alone is plenty for the likes of you!" [[spoiler: Lucy mockingly tells him and Nana to come at her together. He gives this line and avoids all of her attacks and proceeds to beat the crap out of her.]]** He tries to give one in the anime. "You think I need a gun to kill you? I'll do it with my bare hands." Which might have been incredibly badass had he not been a broken bleeding mess on the ground whom Lucy obviously didn't see any threat and was unable to back his words up.* BadassNormal:** Takes on several Diclonius [[spoiler: including Lucy (twice) Nana and Mariko in the manga]] and holds his own using nothing but his skills and some heavy bullets and comes close to winning a few of them as well. Not even [[spoiler: [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe getting torn in half will stop him.]] ]]** In the manga at least, he, after surviving multiple encounters with Dicolonii, learns how to dodge vectors.** He also nearly manages to beat Lucy in his 2nd fight with her, losing because the Unknown Man got in the way, and then because Mayu got in the way.** Also when facing the Unknown Man, he gets hit with one of his toxic spiked balls, and he endures the pain and rips it out despite being hooked into his skin with barbs.* BerserkButton:** Don't litter on the beach, or else.** Also, he can't stand pedophiles.* BigDamnHeroes: Manga exclusive, combined as it often is with a nice case of DynamicEntry, when the Unknown Man assaults Mayu and Nana in chapter 75, things look really bad even for this manga.* BloodKnight: He refuses to kill Lucy when [[HelplessGoodSide Nyu]] is in control because he can't be bothered to do something so boring.* ByronicHero: [[http://manga.animea.net/elfen-lied-chapter-78-page-3.html Chapter]][[http://manga.animea.net/elfen-lied-chapter-78-page-4.html 78's]] [[http://manga.animea.net/elfen-lied-chapter-78-page-5.html introduction]] drives the point home.* CharacterDevelopment: Bando is probably the most DynamicCharacter in the series. He goes from a SociopathicSoldier who joins the SAT to legally [[PsychoForHire kill people]] [[BloodKnight who'd give him a challenge]], to a less dangerous {{Jerkass}} who, while still treating everyone else like utter shit, will still repay people who are in his debt, and is also obsessed with having his {{Revenge}} against Lucy, to finally, a [[HiddenHeartOfGold Jerk With A Heart Of Brass]] and JerkassWoobie who risks his life to stop the Unknown Man from raping Mayu in a truly BadAss manner, but is ''still'' obsessed with killing Lucy.* ChekhovsClassroom: Bando remembers the instructions given to him earlier in the episode about the 2 meter effective range of Lucy's weapon.* CombatPragmatist: Bando dips into CrazyPrepared territory, getting his fight with Lucy in a place where he set up, hid traps, and cleared of debris for her to throw. * CoolShades: Very cool.* CrazyPrepared:** After getting his ass handed to him by Lucy early on, [[spoiler:he completely cleaned up the beach in order to make sure Lucy had nothing to attack with, figured out her range of attack, and got modified Desert Eagles that fired rounds too heavy for Lucy to block or at close range knock away.]]** His crazy preparedness actually works against him in the manga where his [[spoiler: attempt to blind Lucy with a flash grenade and tear gas worked against him when the bright flash kept most of the gas from entering her eyes. Though even she admits that if it wasn't for the Unknown Man, he'd have won.]]* CurbStompBattle:** He gets the short end of the stick when he meets Lucy.** He gives one to the Unknown Man, even though he had his crossbow and Bando didn't use a gun.** Having been prepared this time around, his second fight with Lucy in the manga ends with him stomping her face into the ground and nearly killing her twice. Unfortunately, people like to get in the way.* {{Cyborg}}: He gets a prostethic arm and artificial eyes.* DisabilitySuperpower: His prosthetic arm allowed him to remove a spiked ball from his body during fight with the Unknown Man.* {{Determinator}}: Through a combination of technology and sheer badassery, Bando walks off stuff that would kill most people. These include getting in order, [[spoiler: his legs shot up, one arm ripped off, the other arm snapped, both eyes gouged out, the second arm ripped off and getting bisected. In short, by the end of the manga Bando is basically a head and chest on life support and isn't slowing down.]]** Grabs hold of a spiked metal ball, which is coated in agony-inducing toxin, out of his body and baseball-pitches it straight into the ass of the guy who shot him with it.* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:He's cut in half by Lucy. In the last chapter, he's fine and comes back to Mayu.]]* DontSneakUpOnMeLikeThat: Bando ''punched'' a woman with that excuse.* ElectronicEyes: He gets cybernetic eyes after Lucy [[EyeScream blinds him]] during their first fight.* EyeScream: After disabling him during their first fight, Lucy uses her vectors to gouge out his eyes. He ''did'' tell her that "the next time I see you, you're dead," so...* FlatWhat: His expression when [[spoiler:Lucy throws The Unknown Man's head at him]] is ''[[TheComicallySerious priceless]]''.%%* FreudianTrio: TheId to Nana's [[TheEgo Ego]] and Kurama's [[TheSuperego Superego]].* HeroicSacrifice: Saves [[spoiler: Mayu]] from Lucy during his second battle in the manga and gets [[spoiler: cut in half as a result. Unlike most examples he survives.]] It also completes Bando's character development in the manga.* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler:Loses his lower half and his left arm (and his right one, though he lost it earlier, and It had been replaced with a cybernetic arm). He recovers, but with a cybernetic lower half (and arms).]]* HandCannon: Bando uses two Desert Eagles chambered in .50AE, and is actually {{justified|Trope}} in using it: Most handgun bullets bounce off the Diclonius vectors, the heavier and more powerful .50AE round will go right through at a close enough range. The only other option is to use an anti-tank sniper rifle or something equivalent in power.* HandicappedBadass: Blurred vision and a dysfunctional hand doesn't stop [[BadAss Bando]] from kicking extreme amounts of ass.* HitmanWithAHeart: Despite his intro as a PsychoForHire and the other times where he acts the part after, he's not all bad, specially towards Mayu. %%* HotBlooded* ItsPersonal: Lucy beat him in a fight and cut off his arm.* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he's a ''much'' bigger bastard than the normal, he has his moments [[spoiler:mainly towards Mayu]]. It's perhaps better than nothing that Bando is simply a {{Jerkass}}, given his behavior and the [[HumansAreBastards general treatment of most humans in this show]]!%%* LargeHam* MildlyMilitary: In the anime, Bando has done everything up from threatening other men with guns, to knocking out his own partner to just being a real jerkass overall. Averted to a significant degree in the manga. Bando may say a few threats, but never does more than that.* NobleDemon:** Bando has lines he won't cross. If he feels in someone's debt he will try to return the favor.** And even he can't stand the Unknown Man.** He may be [[AxeCrazy crazy as fuck]], but doesn't like people littering on the beach.* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Beats the absolute crap out of the [[spoiler: Unknown Man]] which culminates in him shoving the [[spoiler: Unknown Man's poisoned spiked ball where the sun don't shine.]]* PetTheDog: Only when Bando is going through his character development. While his overall [[JerkAss attitude]] doesn't change, his actions certainly do. And by the end of the manga, its almost surprising that he was a near complete monster in the beginning. Some of the things he ends up doing is... ** Seeing if Mayu is alright after roughing her up.** Saving Nana and Kurama from an enraged Mariko.** Preventing [[spoiler: Kurama]] from committing suicide and sheltering him.** Saving Mayu and Nana from the vicious unknown hunter and keeping his promise to Mayu.** Sacrificing himself to save Mayu from Lucy.* PragmaticVillainy: Played With: he claims to clean up the beach because he's preparing for a fight with Lucy, and any and all trash can be used as a projectile. While that is true, he really does hate the litter and wants to keep the beach clean.* PsychoForHire: Before his CharacterDevelopment.%%* RedOniBlueOni: Red to Kurama's Blue.%%* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Him and Kurama.* SirSwearsALot: Being the tough guy that he is, Bando curses far more than anyone else in the series. What makes it even more noticeable is that pretty much all the other main and secondary characters either don't swear at all or only do it once in a while.%%* SmokingIsCool* StayingAlive: He has come back from having one of his arms torn off while the other is broken and having his eyes gouged out by means of cybernetic implants. [[spoiler:Later on he is torn in half (by the same character no less) yet returns in the end of the story healthy again (except he's half robot by this point). Somewhat jarring in that he was definitely dead the last time.]]* SunglassesAtNight: Partially justified, as he set up flash bombs on the beach, and he kept the glasses on, on the off chance he'd get into fight.* TooDumbToLive: Instead of just [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim ventilating her]], he chooses to play around with her first (a "duel"). In the ensuing fight he manages to accidentally awaken her "Lucy" persona and nearly gets killed.* TookALevelInBadass: While hardly weak before, Bando goes through some major changes in the manga after his [[CurbStompBattle first defeat by Lucy.]] His fights afterwards end with him utilizing the knowledge about Diclonius to his advantage, using [[CombatPragmatist several good tricks]] and remaining the only human to fight Lucy twice (and surviving) but actually holding the advantage over her in their second fight and nearly winning.* TookALevelInDumbass: Zigzagged somewhat in the anime. Ironically while he was taking several levels of badass and character development in the manga, the anime decided to do the opposite. Though he gets stronger weapons and learns about keeping his distance. His fights in the anime after being mutilated usually involved him kicking his opponent while they're down (and then realizing afterwards he shouldn't get too close) and shooting his gun in the general direction of people and yelling a lot. * VillainousRescue: He's a psychopath whose only goal in life is to find and kill Lucy/Nyu, [[spoiler:but when the Hunter assaults Mayu, he comes to the rescue.]]* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:The last chapter reveals that, just like Anna, this [[StayingAlive unkillable son of a bitch]] somehow survived and reunited with Mayu again.]] It should be noted that Kurama found him, so maybe there is some implication.* TheUnfettered: Anything is permissible so long as he has the opportunity to kill Lucy.* WouldHitAGirl: Most notably on his introductory scene, when he viciously [[BloodFromTheMouth backhanded]] a woman who made the mistake of approaching him from behind without warning. He outwardly threatens Mayu at one point by citing this trait: see below.* WouldHurtAChild: Despite [[EvenEvilHasStandards having some standards]], he is still more than willing to rough up Mayu and harrass Nana to get some information about Lucy. He also generally treats both girls like utter crap [[spoiler:when he's not saving their lives from psychotic Diclonii like Mariko or Lucy or the even more psychotic Unknown Man]].[[/folder]]

Kouta's little sister who died before the series starts. [[spoiler: She was actually brutally slaughtered by a jealous Lucy, and along with his father, serves as the trigger for Kouta's TraumaInducedAmnesia]].----!!!Tropes associated with Kanae:* BloodSplatteredInnocents: During Lucy's rampage at the festival.%%* BrattyHalfPint* CassandraTruth: Her wild story about a horned girl killing people with arms that came out of her head is proven true in the worst way.* ClingyJealousGirl: She became jealous whenever other girls showed attention towards Kouta, as seen when she kicks Yuka.* HairDecorations: Wears a big pink bow in her hair.* [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe Half The Little Girl She Used To Be]]: [[spoiler:Courtesy of a young Lucy.]]* PosthumousCharacter: She died before the series starts.[[/folder]]

The ringleader of the children who tormented Lucy as a child. Is also the one most responsible for her hatred of humanity.----!!!Tropes associated with Tomoo:* AssholeVictim: Easily the ''least'' sympathetic of Lucy's victims.* TheBully: A rotten-to-the-core one at that.* CreepyChild: Ironically more so than his victim.* EnfanteTerrible: Probably would have grown up to be a SerialKiller if Lucy hadn't killed him.* EvilOrphan: Tomoo showcases psychopathic/sociopathic behaviors you'd expect from children with the potential to become serial killers.* FlatCharacter: He only exists to torture Lucy and give a reason ''why'' she is the way she is.* ForTheEvulz: Tomoo has absolutely no reason to kill the puppy aside for his own twisted amusement.* GoneHorriblyRight: He killed Lucy's puppy just to see if he could get ''any'' kind of reaction out of her at all. [[UnstoppableRage He]] [[YourHeadAsplode succeeded]].* {{Jerkass}}: Kind of an understatement, really.* KickTheDog: More like '''''KILL'''''.* KidsAreCruel: Of the utter sociopath kind.* KarmicDeath: And a very satisfying one at that.* MuggingTheMonster: Not that anyone was aware of it - they all just assumed she was a freak with horns.* OhCrap: Just before Lucy kills him his look is one of pure shock and terror.* PosthumousCharacter: He has been dead for eight years at the start of the story.* SmallRoleBigImpact: He and his friends are in only one episode, but they're the reason for Lucy's StartOfDarkness and belief that HumansAreTheRealMonsters.[[/folder]]

Kurama's wife and mother of Mariko.----!!!Tropes associated with Hiromi Kurama:* DeathByChildBirth: A cruel subversion. She survives giving birth to Mariko, but is left severely weakened and must undergo surgery to save her life. The complications of her weakened state plus the added stress of seeing Kurama try to kill their newborn daughter was what ended up causing her death.* DrivenToSuicide: Subverted. Kurama remarks that she attempted suicide after witnessing him trying to kill Mariko. We learn later on that she had suffered from complications due to the birth because of cancer. She ultimately tries to stop Kurama from killing Mariko, begging him to spare her, and ends up bleeding to death on the floor.* PosthumousCharacter: She only appears in flashbacks.[[/folder]]

A young girl and the second human to ever befriend Lucy. ----!!!Tropes associated with Aiko Takada:* AbusiveParents: Her father constantly beat her for drawing because it reminded him of her mother, who left him because of her career.* AccidentalMurder: When her father tried to cut a painting she made for her mother with a knife, Aiko pushed him away and he ended up accidentally slashing his own throat.* CruelAndUnusualDeath: She was just a little girl who wanted to see her mother again, only to sacrifice her life to save a new friend.* HeroicSacrifice: See TakingTheBullet below.* NiceGirl: She's the second human after Kouta to treat Lucy kindly. [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Too bad it doesn't last]].* NotQuiteDead: [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120514020240/elfen-lied/images/e/e8/Aiko01.JPG This scanlation]] here states that Aiko survived and grew up to become an artist like her mother.* SmallRoleBigImpact: She is the reason Lucy was first captured and the source of her hatred of Kurama.* TakingTheBullet: She takes a bullet meant for Lucy from Kurama, which pushes Lucy over the DespairEventHorizon completely.[[/folder]]----